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Pages:
4 pages/≈1100 words
Sources:
3 Sources
Style:
APA
Subject:
Religion & Theology
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
MS Word
Date:
Total cost:
$ 15.84
Topic:

Free Will by Kane, Frankfurt’s solution and Strawson's Opinion on Reactive Attitudes

Essay Instructions:

Questions:
(1) What does “free will” refer to, and why is there a free will problem?
(2) What is Frankfurt’s solution to the free will problem?
(3) What are reactive attitudes, and why does Strawson think that we’d continue experiencing them even if determinism is true?
Instructions: Please Answer each part of these related questions as completely and succinctly as possible.
Using APA method of citation, your paper should include at least one quotation from
Kane, Frankfurt, and Strawson. Your total answer should be no longer than 4 pages, double-
spaced, in a 12-point font. ONLY use the reading provided, No outside website.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Introduction to Ethics
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What does “free will” refer to, and why is there a free will problem?
“Free will,” according to Kane (2005, p. 6), is the belief that as human beings, we can influence the world in different ways by considering other alternatives before us and employing reasoning and deliberation to choose one without any outside factors or those beyond our control influencing us.
The free will problem exists due to the familiar notions held to explain it. Freedom is one of the notions held and clamored by people. People appeal for freedom and a free society to satisfy most of their desires by making independent decisions without anyone controlling or manipulating them. However, this is not the case. Kane observes that while people may have surface freedom, their choices are manipulated by advertisers, marketers, TVs, parents, relatives, and friends, among others. Additionally, one’s genetic, psychological, and social factors influence them and the choices they make. Hence, this brings a problem after people realize that despite having the freedom to make choices, one is not their own person (Kane, 2005, p. 3).
Responsibility is another notion that brings about the free will problem. Responsibility determines accountability, blame, and praiseworthiness for actions taken by an individual. Responsibility determines free will if a person’s actions are entirely determined by their personality, which they influence solely. However, parenting, one’s society, genes, and upbringing, have a significant influence on who an individual becomes and what actions they take (Kane, 2005, p. 5). These influences may influence a person’s entire existence or a part of it. Hence, it becomes problematic to determine their free will considering other factors influencing their responsibility for action.
The problem of free will also occasion when people find out that determinism and necessity influence their actions. The determinism notion points to human beings reaching an advanced state of self-consciousness when they begin to wonder whether their actions and choices reflect God, laws of physics, logic, genetics, and environment influencing them. According to determinism, “An event (such as a choice or action) is determined when there are conditions obtaining earlier (such as the degrees of fate or the foreordaining acts of God or antecedent causes plus laws of nature) whose occurrence is a sufficient condition for the occurrence of the event. In other words, it must be the case that if these earlier determining conditions obtain, then the determined event will occur. (Kane, 2005, pp. 5-6).” Hence, events in a person’s life are bound to occur when nature determines it or when the determining factors occur, deeming it necessary.
What is Frankfurt’s solution to the free will problem?
Frankfurt’s solution is to let people want what they want and, in this way, enjoy free will. He believes that there is no conclusive determination that certain people have free will and others do not. Also, those other entities are responsible for some people enjoying it while others do no...
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