PHL 100

Feb. 14, 2011

Felling of Freedom
Present:
An Argument Against HD Based on the Feeling of Freedom:
i. We sometimes feel as though we are acting freely.
Ii. If we sometimes feel as though we are acting freely, then HD is
false.
Iii. Therefore, HD is false.
Explain:
Freedom of the Will: Agent S is free with respect to action a, if S could
have done otherwise than a; whether or not a is performed is up to S; whether
performing a is under Ss control.
FWT: Free Will Thesis; there are some free actions.
CD: Causal Determinism; the laws of nature, coupled with a complete set of
facts about the universe at a particular time, entail a unique future.
Incompatibilism: CD is incompatible with FWT.
HD: Hard Determinism; the view that CD, FWT, and incompatibilism are true
and that no one is ever free with respect to any action.
Defense of Line 1: When a person performs an action the person usually
feels as if the action was up to them, was performed under his or her control, and
if he or she wanted, could have performed a different action. For example, in
class when I wiggled my finger to the right, I felt as if I could have easily wiggled
my finger to the left. Furthermore the action was up to me and under my control,
e.g., I did not have a mechanic devise controlling my finger causing my left
wiggle. I felt as if I was acting freely.
Defense of Line 2: When we state a feeling we experience, these
statements are incorrigible. If I was to say my head hurt, that statement cannot be
false; if I feel that my head hurts, then my head does hurt. HD entails that my
finger wiggle was not a free action. If I felt free when I wiggled my finger then my

finger wiggle was in fact a free action and HD is false.

Evaluate:
Valid: Yes
Form: Modus Ponens
Sound: No
PAL: Line 2; Simply having the feeling of freedom does not entail that we
are actually acting freely. Line 2 seems to fail on a bit of an equivocation. Feeling
that my head hurts is not the same feeling as feeling that I have free will. I feel my
head hurt and I think or believe that I am acting freely. Line 2, with a think or
believe reading of the term feeling, does not lead to a conclusion with HD being
false. The thoughts or beliefs about the would that we hold have no effect on the
truth of HD.