Metaphilosophy and Free Will

Metaphilosophy and Free Will

by Richard Double
Metaphilosophy and Free Will

Metaphilosophy and Free Will

by Richard Double

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Overview

Why is debate over the free will problem so intractable? In this broad and stimulating look at the philosophical enterprise, Richard Double uses the free will controversy to build on the subjectivist conclusion he developed in The Non-Reality of Free Will (OUP 1991). Double argues that various views about free will--e.g., compatibilism, incompatibilism, and even subjectivism--are compelling if, and only if, we adopt supporting metaphilosophical views. Because metaphilosophical considerations are not provable, we cannot show any free will theory to be most reasonable. Metaphilosophy and Free Will deconstructs the free will problem and, by example, challenges philosophers in other areas to show how their philosophical argumentation can succeed.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780195355413
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 09/26/1996
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 264 KB

About the Author

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

Table of Contents

1Introduction3
1.Free Will Subjectivism and Metaphilosophy3
2.An Example of the Importance of Metaphilosophy8
3.A Provisional Definition of Free Choice10
4.Overview of the Book12
IThe Free Will Problem as a Problem in Metaphilosophy
2Metaphilosophies17
1.What Is Philosophy For?17
2.Desires-for-Philosophy and Conceptions of Philosophy19
3.Four Metaphilosophies22
4.The Importance of Having a Metaphilosophy32
5.The Unprovability of Metaphilosophy: Two Reasons33
6.Three Objections to the Relativity of Metaphilosophies37
7.Conclusion39
3Intermediate-Level Philosophical Principles40
1.Five Pairs of Intermediate Principles40
2.The Unprovability of Intermediate-Level Principles47
3.The Interplay of Metaphilosophies, Intermediate Principles, and Lower-Level Theories49
4.Why Adopt Philosophy as Continuous with Science?53
5.Conclusion55
4How the Free Will Debate Depends on Metaphilosophy (I)56
1.Reasons for Believing in Free Will56
2.The Burden-of-Proof Issue60
3.How Far May Philosophers 'Go' to Accommodate Free Will?62
4.Strawson's Subjectivist Account of Blame63
5.The Debate over Dual Rationality69
5How the Free Will Debate Depends on Metaphilosophy (II)77
1.The Analogy between the Metaphysics of Ethics and the Metaphysics of Free Will78
2.Van Inwagen's Consequence Argument82
3.Frankfurt's Principle of Alternative Possibilities86
4.Is Equal Proof Needed in All Areas of Philosophy?90
5.Standard and Non-Standard Views of Moral Responsibility93
6.Conclusion96
IIFree Will from the Perspective of Philosophy as Continuous With Science
6How to Frame the Free Will Problem99
1.A Radical Approach to Free Will100
2.Four Free Will Theories101
3.Another Theory103
4.Conclusion108
7The Fragmentation of Free Will109
1.The Unity Objection110
2.The Fragmentation-Is-No-Problem Objection111
3.Two Preliminary Reasons to Reject Both Types of the Fragmentation-Is-No-Problem Objection112
4.Reasons to Reject the Bald Example114
5.Reasons to Reject Cockburn's Move119
6.Mele's Objection122
7.Conclusion124
8Free Will Is a Moral Concept126
1.What Does It Mean to Call Free Choice a Moral Term?127
2.A Preliminary Reason for Thinking That Free Choice Is Moral128
3.The Open-Question Argument: Goodness and Freeness130
4.The Analogy with Moral Facts: Freeness Facts Have No Explanatory Power132
5.The Goodness of Ultimacy134
6.The Dispute over Magnanimity138
7.Conclusion142
9Hume's Principle: The Subjectivity of Moral Responsibility and Free Will143
1.Defining the Key Terms144
2.Why Hume's Principle Implies That Ascriptions of Moral Responsibility Cannot Be True147
3.Why Hume's Principle Implies That Free Choice Is a Moral Concept151
4.Conclusion154
10Conclusion156
1.Where We Are156
2.Philosophical Consequences158
3.Consequences for Persons161
References167
Index173
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