PHI-103 EXAM 2
Control Condition
Both libertarians and compatibilists agree that "control" over one's actions are necessary for an act to be free. However, they disagree as to what they mean by control Compatibilists believe that all current events are caused by a chain of past events formed in accord with the laws of nature. However, an agent is in control of an act just in case the act is caused in the right way by prior states of the agent by the agent's own character, beliefs, desires, and values For libertarians, it is only if agents are first causes, unmoved movers, that they have the control necessary for freedom. An agent must be the absolute, originating source of his own actions to be in control. From a libertarian view, the agent has dual control, either to act or not to act
Hard Determinism
Denies the existence of free will (as understood by libertarians) and libertarianism accepts free will and denies determinism with respect to human freedom
The Person as an Agent
For the compatibilist, the person, insofar as he or she is an agent, is simply a series of events through which a causal chain passes on its way to producing an effect. As long as this effect is caused by the right things in the right way (e.g., the character states in the agent) the act counts as free By contrast, a necessary condition for libertarian freedom is that the agent be a genuine substance in the tradition of Aristotle and Aquinas, such as substance dualism
Determinism
God determines what happens Furthermore, it is the view that for every event that happens, there are conditions such that, given them, nothing else could have happened In other words, prior events determine/necessitate/cause the events that do occur Everything is causally determined
Soft Determinism
Holds that freedom and determinism are compatible with each other, and thus the truth of determinism does not eliminate freedom
Edwin Hubble
Hubble was an American astronomer. He played a crucial role in establishing the fields of extragalactic astronomy and observational cosmology and is regarded as one of the most important astronomers of all time. Moreover, he discovered red-shift
The Ability Condition
In order to have the freedom necessary for responsible agency, one must have the ability to choose or act differently from the way the agent actually does Compatibilists believe that the agent would have done otherwise had some other condition been obtained For libertarians, the real issue is not whether we are free to do what we want, but whether we are free to want in the first place. You must be the ultimate originator of your choices for them to be free and for you to be responsible for them
Red-Shift
In physics, red-shift is a phenomenon where electromagnetic radiation (such as light) from an object undergoes an increase in wavelength. Whether or not the radiation is visible, "red-shift" means an increase in wavelength, equivalent to a decrease in wave frequency and photon energy, in accordance with, respectively, the wave and quantum theories of light
Arguments Against Dualism
In the problem of interaction, physicalists claim that the two substances (mind and body) dualists believe human beings are are too different to explain how they interact Dualism is inconsistent with naturalistic evolutionary theory. Evolution as a purely physical process can only be physical things. Humans can then only be physical Dualism is ruled out by Ockham's Razor, which is the view that when one has competing explanations of a phenomenon the simplest explanation is to be referred. Physicalism is simpler than dualism because everything is one kind of substance, not two
Arguments for Physicalism
In the problem of multiple realization, a human having mental pain states must be equal to another human brain pain states
Soft Compatibilism
Libertarian free will is unlikely but possible In other words, determinism is not necessary for free will Free choice is at least compatible (i.e., consistent) with determinism, and thus the truth of determinism cannot be used as an argument against freedom
William Paley
Paley was an English clergyman, Christian apologist, philosopher, and utilitarian. He is best known for his natural theology exposition of the teleological argument for the existence of God, which made use of the watchmaker analogy He believed the natural world was the creation of God and showed the nature of the creator. According to Paley, God had carefully designed even the most humble and insignificant organisms and all of their minute features
Compatibilism
Past events cause (determine) future events
Rationality Condition
Requires that an agent have a personal reason for acting before the act counts as a free one Libertarians hold that some actions are spontaneous and do not require reasons that cause these actions. Nonetheless, libertarians hold that some actions are done for reasons For compatibilists, a reason for acting turns out to be a certain type of state in the agent, a belief-desire state, that is the real efficient cause of the action taking place. Persons as substances do not act; rather, states within persons cause latter states to occur
Richard Swinburne
Swinburne is one of the most eminent modern philosophers of religion and was the professor of philosophy at Oxford He is the chief exponent of the new design argument. Swinburne begins by distinguishing between spatial and temporal order The universe seems to behave in temporal ways over and over again
Natural Theology
That which can be known about God purely by the power of human reason unaided by revelation. Natural theology claims to be able to provide proofs of God's existence either completely a priori, and therefore independent of the senses, or completely a posteriori, that is, based on certain facts about nature
Functional Physicalism
The "software" view, or that mental states are functional states of the organism In other words, the mind is a kind of computer program. If a human being functions like a human being, then they are a human being A mental state can be exhaustively described in terms of sensory inputs, behavioral outputs, and other internal states Mental states are the causal relations that obtain certain bodily inputs, certain bodily outputs, and other mental states
Substance Dualism
The brain is physical and has physical properties and the mind/soul is a mental substance that has mental properties
Type-Identity Physicalism
The claim that mental states are the same thing as brain type states All mental states are equivalent to brain states, meaning that there are no actual mental states
Expanding Universe and Its Implications
The expansion of the universe is the increase of the distance between two distant parts of the universe and time. It is an intrinsic expansion whereby the scale of space itself changes. Technically, neither space nor objects in space move. Instead it is the metric governing the size and geometry of spacetime itself that changes in scale The implications of this notion is that eventually space will expand as much as it is able to, which means that there is not an infinite amount of space and disproves the idea that there is an infinity
Fine-Tuning Argument for God's Existence
The fine-tuned universe is the proposition that the conditions that allow life in the universe can occur only when certain universal dimensionless physical constants lie within a very narrow range of values, so that if any of several fundamental constants were only slightly different, the universe would be so unlikely to be conducive to the establishment and development of matter, astronomical structures, elemental diversity, or life as it is understood It is also the idea that certain forces are so precisely calibrated that the odds of it happening by chance is physically impossible
Oscillating Cosmology
The force of gravity will eventually cause the universe to collapse back together and then expand again since gravity is powered by mass The problem is that there is not enough mass to cause this gravitational contraction and that the rate of expansion is accelerating
Essence
The property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity For example, properties that make someone a human
Causation
The relation between cause and effect Compatibilists use event-event causation, which is a state of one thing existing as an efficient cause that is prior to an effect, which is the production of a state in another thing Libertarians agree that event-event causation is an accurate account of how causation normally occurs in the natural world. However, free acts are acts where an agent, not another event, is the cause in the cause and effect relationships
Substance
The substances in a given philosophical system are those things which, according to that system, are the foundational or fundamental entities of reality Individual examples of humans
Inflationary Cosmology
The universe began to expand faster and faster in the early universe The problem is that there would still need to be a beginning
Dualism
The universe is composed of two substances: one material and one immaterial Furthermore, humans are both physical and mental
Steady-State Cosmology
The universe maintains the same amount of density. Furthermore, as the universe expands, more matter pops into existence In other words, the density of matter in the expanding universe remains unchanged due to a continuous creation of matter, thus adhering to the perfect cosmological principle, a principle that asserts that the observable universe is basically the same at any time as well as at any place The problem is that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Moreover, there is leftover gamma radiation from hot matter being compressed into a single point at the Big Bang
Temporal Order Argument for God's Existence
The universe might so naturally have been chaotic, but it is not as it is very orderly In other words, the scientific method cannot explain why there is deep and fundamental order in the first place. If there is no possible scientific explanation for this, then we are required to look for another simple and elegant explanation, which is God
Physicalism
The view that all entities whatsoever are merely physical entities. There are no abstract objects, and all substances, properties, and events are merely physical entities
Watchmaker Argument
The watchmaker analogy or watchmaker argument is a teleological argument which states, by way of an analogy, that a design implies a designer Paley argued that if a pocket watch is found on a heath, it is more reasonable to assume that someone dropped it and that it was made by at least one watchmaker, not by natural forces
Problems with Multiverse Theory
There is little or no scientific proof for the multiverse theory Furthermore, it is a speculation based on prior naturalistic assumptions. This universe's fine-tuning does not provide as evidence for millions of non-finely tuned universes
Multiverse Theory
There may be and may have been many universes, most of which are chaotic and do not sustain life. If there are many universes, the chance of an orderly universe emerging are not remote
Irreducible Complexity
This involves the idea that certain biological systems cannot evolve by successive small modifications to pre-existing functional systems through natural selection
Hypothetical Ability
This is also referred to as a conditional sense and roughly means that the agent would have done otherwise had some other condition been obtained In other words, we are free to will whatever we desire even though our desires are themselves determined Compatibilists use this particular term You can only act according to the conditions; you can act differently only if the conditions are different
Categorical Ability
This particular term is used by libertarians In this, one can will to do A or could will to do B without any different conditions Libertarians claim categorical ability is dual ability, which is to either will to do something or to refrain from willing to do it
Michael Behe
Behe is an American biochemist, author, and advocate of the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design (ID) He is best known as an advocate for the validity of the argument for irreducible complexity (IC)
Property Dualism
A category of positions in the philosophy of mind which holds that, although the world is composed of just one kind of substance (the physical kind) there exist two distinct kinds of properties: physical properties and mental properties No mental substances exist Only the brain has both physical and mental properties. Mental properties emerge from physical things in the brain
Property
A characteristic of an object. The property may be considered a form of object in its own right, able to possess other properties A property, however, differs from individual objects in that it may be instantiated, and often in more than one thing A feature or aspect of something
Hard Compatibilism
A free choice is inconceivable or impossible without determinism; a free choice is one that must be determined. Why? Because, argue hard compatibilists, the only choices that are free are those caused by one's character, beliefs, and desires
Arguments for Dualism
According to Leibniz's Law, anything that is identical to itself must have all the same properties, even the same modal properties Nagel's Argument explains how physicalism is false since consciousness, which cannot be explained in physical terms, seems to be non-physical The distinctiveness of mental and physical properties is that mental events and properties do not seem to have the features as physical events, which can be comprehensively described with physics and chemistry Self-presenting properties state that no physical properties are self-presenting, even though at least some mental properties are self-presenting. Therefore, at least some mental properties are not physical properties. People have private access to mental properties and one can know at least some of one's mental properties incorrigibly With the subjective nature of experience, having an object of experience, at face value, does not appear to be a physical notion Secondary qualities are qualities such as colors, tastes, sounds, smells, and textures, whereas primary qualities are qualities thought to be among the properties that characterize matter (weight, shape, size, solidity, motion, etc.). Physicalism, however, seems to deny the existence of secondary properties in the external world Intentionality is the mind's "ofness" or "aboutness" as the mental states are intrinsically directed towards something. Because intentionality cannot be reduced to physics or chemistry, it is not a property or relation of anything physical
Libertarianism
Agents act freely as they can always do otherwise than they do
Cosmological Argument for God's Existence
Arguments for God's existence based on God (cause) being the best explanation of the existence of the universe (effect) In other words, it is an argument in which the existence of a unique being, generally seen as some kind of god, is deduced or inferred from facts or alleged facts concerning causation, change, motion, contingency, or finitude in respect of the universe as a whole or processes within it It starts with the effect of the universe existing and tries to explain its cause by answering the question of why there is something rather than nothing
Teleological Arguments for God's Existence
Arguments for God's existence based on God (cause) being the best explanation of the order (effect) in the universe In other words, it is an argument for the existence of God or, more generally, for an intelligent creator based on perceived evidence of deliberate design in the natural world The effect that is being explained is the fact that the universe looks designed
Ontological Argument for God's Existence
Arguments for God's existence based on the definition of God as a maximal great/perfect being In other words, it attempts to prove the existence of God from the meaning of the word God If God can exist in any world, then he can exist in the real world
Transcendental Argument for God's Existence
Arguments for God's existence that compares worldview explanations for something we know to exist in reality and show that God better explains the existence of that thing than does a competing worldview (e.g., numbers, logic, evil, etc.) In other words, it is the argument that attempts to prove the existence of God by arguing that logic, morals, and science ultimately presuppose a supreme being and that God must therefore be the source of logic and morals
Kalam Dilemma Chart
Universe -> no beginning or beginning Beginning -> uncaused or caused Caused -> impersonal or personal