Running Head: GENRE ANALYSIS OF FREE WILL

Genre Analysis of Free Will

The University of El Paso
Andrea Tovar

GENRE ANALYSIS OF FREE WILL

Introduction
Free will is an interesting idea. Most people believe that choices shape their day to day
life. Usually those choices are believed to be made by the individual, however that is proven to
be false. The Illusion of Choice Free Will and Determinism, the typographic genre, exhibits
how the illusion of free will can be explained through physics and how the brain copes with the
idea of free will (Crabtree, 1.0). Understanding how free will is false can allow to further the
issues created within the society. This is then explored in The Dark Side of Free Will an
iconographic example, which shows the effects of free will. Both further an individuals
knowledge of free will, they both take a different approach however. From the audience,
purpose, and structure free will is a common theme the only difference being that they
approached it differently.
Audience
The video The dark side of free will introduced many ideas that could be confusing to
the general public. An example of this is when Gregg Caruso introduces empirical work in
political psychology, he adds terms such as punitiveness and just world belief (3:06-3:17). If
not explained these terms would make no sense to the general public. However, Greg Caruso did
simplify it due to the nature of the audience. The conference was held by TEDx and as their
website entails, TEDx events present multiple issues and a diversity of voices from many
disciplines (What is TEDx Event?). With this in mind not everyone is a philosopher, or
studied human behavior, however its safe to assume that those who attended the conference
where either interested in listening to this speech or where invited guests due to the nature of
how TEDx works.

GENRE ANALYSIS OF FREE WILL

On the other hand the video is not limited to the conference. The fact that it is on the
internet creates a much larger audience. While the video itself is on YouTube, a gateway for
everyone around the world to watch, the contents within the video make it so that an audience
can be pinpointed out. Dr. Caruso explained terms and theories that could not be understood by
every age level. With diction such as corrosive or retribution it is understandable to see that
the audience is not from a younger demographic such as elementary to middle school children.
Not only that, but the video itself had to be searched up which then allows the assumption to be
made that those who watched the video was either a scholar interested in free will or a
philosopher wanting to learn more.
Moreover, the typographic example, discusses free will in greater depth. This can be seen
at the beginning of the article, the table of contents clearly shows that the article itself is lengthy
and explains everything in depth (Crabtree, 2015). While the video only scraped the surface of
free will, this article discusses how free will works, and how it affects everything around us.
Furthermore one can assume that the audience includes scholars that are invested in learning
more about free will. Another aspect that effects the demographic of the article is the language.
With topics such as Dualism, subconscious, and moral issues one can see that this is not a
reading for just anyone (Crabtree, 2015). As stated before this reading would be appropriate for
scholars, and older individuals, and this proves to be true with the language of the article as well.
And unlike the video where it is explained what things are referring to, this article does not take
much time to do that. This further concludes that the audience of the article are individuals that
are knowledgeable of the topic.
While both the genre examples had multiple differences, ultimately the audience
remained somewhat the same. However the video has a greater audience than that of the article.

GENRE ANALYSIS OF FREE WILL

Due to it being a TED talk, scholars from multiple professions could have watched it just
because it was a TED talk. The article, however, could be narrowed down to those who wanted
to learn about the topic in depth.
Purpose
While both the genres spoke of the same topic they both had different purposes. The
dark side of free will wanted to establish how free will ultimately impacts society negatively.
Dr. Caruso however approaches this positively due to him being an optimistic skeptic (1:54).
The purpose of his speech is not to prove if free will is real or not, he is only attempting to allow
the audience to understand what the consequences would be of disbelieving in free will. He
proposes that the belief of free will ultimately correlates with higher levels of religiosity
punitiveness and a number of conservative beliefs in attitude such as just world beliefs and right
wing authority (2:58-3:07). He continues to explain how these beliefs consist of the idea that
good things happen to good people (7:00-7:10). While this doesnt seem to be a negative aspect,
it actually creates victim blaming. Again this doesnt seem negative in society, most people
believe that those who are in prison deserve to be there due to their actions. However, Dr. Caruso
gives an example of rape victims and how they are constantly blamed for the negative actions
caused to them (7:56-8:00). The correlation among these beliefs serve to purpose how free will
might sound like a positive aspect, however it does deteriorate relationships among individuals.
While the article also hints at the negative effects, it mainly focuses on the fundamentals
of free will. As previously discussed The Illusion of Choice Free Will and Determinism is far
more descriptive and thorough about free will. It not only discusses what Dr. Caruso spoke of it
also discusses why free will is not true, the moral aspect, religion, and all the details surrounding
this controversy. The purpose of the article is to allow the reader to truly gain an understanding

GENRE ANALYSIS OF FREE WILL

of the truth behind free will and why it is so significant. The beginning section exhibits scientific
evidence of how the idea of free will proves to be false, with quotes by Albert Einstein allowing
the reader to be persuaded. It continues to give scientific evidence unlike the video which gave
general studies. One piece of evidence given in the text is the neurological evidence which
proves that after studying human brains doctors can actually detect the neurological basis of
choice moments before patients themselves are aware of their own thoughts (Crabtree, 3.2).
While Dr. Caruso specifically states that his motive is not to prove whether free will is true or
false, the articles main purpose surrounded by that.
The article can be used as further knowledge of free will while the video is more of an
introduction to the topic. One of the reasons that the video is not nearly as informative as the
article is due to the time restrain. Dr. Caruso only had 10 minute and 13 seconds to explain his
theory of free will and how society can fix many problems by abolishing it. While the article is
22 pages in length giving more than enough time and space to explain every aspect of free will
and why it is false.
Rhetorical Appeals
Ethos:
Gregg Caruso the presenter of The dark side of free will received his B. A. in
philosophy from William Peterson University, and his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the City of New
York University (Caruso, about). He is also a professor of philosophy at SUNY Corning (Caruso,
about). This gives credibility to his presentation due to the line of work he has done. Being
knowledgeable in philosophy allows for an accurate theory to be created such as he did. Not only
that, TEDx has certain regulations that make it so that anything they believe isnt accurate would

GENRE ANALYSIS OF FREE WILL

not be allowed to present. Under the rules and regulations the section that reads contents lists that
speakers must not have a commercial agenda, pseudoscience, and inflammatory political or
religious agenda therefore creating a valid presentation without invalid biases (TEDx Rules).
While the content of the video was valid it did lack some ethos when compared to the
typographic genre. The Illusion of Choice Free Will and Determinism gave numerous quotes
and evidence to support his claims. With sources such as Steven Hawking, Paul Davies, and
Albert Einstein the credibility of the work speaks for itself. Whereas the article had multiple
credible sources the individual that wrote the article hindered the credibility. Vexen Crabtree is
the author and creator of the website, he has an open degree in social sciences, neurology and the
environmental web (Crabtree, about). His studies however were centered on religious ideology
which are not nearly as credible as facts. With multiple blogs and websites such as Satanism,
Human Truth, and Human Religions which all contain opinion pieces create doubt in the
typographic article (Crabtree, About). While the texts itself seems reliable, the author might
hinder the piece due to his bias and without any regulation in the website the article could be
faulty.
Pathos:
Considering the topic of free will has more of a scientific concern The dark side of free
will does attempt to persuade the audience with a bit of pathos. Visually speaking the
presentation has images, such as the grim reaper in the beginning, and a photo of a bomb falling
on an individual (0:43, 3:06). This can create an understanding that whatever the speaker is
saying should be considered because the consequences could be dire. The color of the images
themselves are black and red and white. Black is commonly correlated with death, and red
usually calls the attention of the viewer which Dr. Caruso ultimately wants. Beyond the colors

GENRE ANALYSIS OF FREE WILL

Caruso also speaks of a topic that catches the attention of listeners and makes the presentation
much more personal. He provides an example of victim blaming among rape victims, an issue
that is very prominent in society today (7:56-8:00). This examples allows for the audience to
sympathize and side with the speaker.
In comparison with The Illusion of Choice Free Will and Determinism it also had its
own type of pathos. Religion can provide a very crucial element in a report, and in the article
Crabtree writes a section of Gods Goodliness (Crabtree, 7.4). In this section he provides
examples of gods goodwill and how in order to obtain what the bible states that God has the
control of everything therefore free will wouldnt be an option (Crabtree, 7.4). This adds pathos
because it gives the religious individuals reason to understand his argument. However unlike the
video it doesnt hold many other elements, in return the readers might not side with the view
presented to them. While it might not persuade your feelings the paper ultimately is used to
inform why free will is false through facts.
Logos:
Both pieces of work have a standard amount of logos. In The dark side of free will he
speaks of past studies that exhibit how negative free will is to the individual. When he introduces
the imperial work that has been researched he explains that the correlation between just world
beliefs prove to be linked to the belief of free will (2:48-3:00). Dr. Caruso also gives a graph of
the number of incarceration in the U.S. compared to the world population. This startling fact is a
use of logos and allows for a capturing of ones attention. Unfortunately the video does lack in
logos the examples presented are the only ones that are provided in the video.
On the other hand the article has countless examples of logos. The beginning of the
article explains scientific evidence in which gives all of the claims validation. He begins the

GENRE ANALYSIS OF FREE WILL

paper by explaining the laws of physics comparing neurons to bouncing balls (Crabtree, 1).
Crabtree also brings in medical studies of the brain and how choices are pre meditated (Crabtree,
3.2). When compared to the video, the typographic genre has a greater amount of logos.
Structure and Delivery
Beginning with The Dark Side of Free Will, the iconographic example, the audience
witnesses an interesting visual presentation of what the speaker presents orally. While most of
the presentation is Dr. Caruso speaking, there are visual images that persuade the reader. Images
such as the grim reaper, a broken tier, and an atomic bomb being dropped over someone (0:43,
3:06-4:00). These images are usually presented during the speech paired with words that allow
for the audience to easily understand the speaker. Unlike that of the typographic genre, this
creates stimuli in the audience and interest which allows for those watching the video to get
through. With the video lasting ten minutes the visual aspect is crucial to remain interest.
Comparing the iconographic example with the typographic which is twenty two pages
long theres many aspects that benefit the article. With enough time and space the article and
discuss every point within free will. The limiting ten minutes prove to be a challenge due to how
broad the topic is.
Summary and Conclusion
Free will is nothing more than an illusion according to both genres. While both catered to
the idea one explained how free will is false while the other explained as to why its crucial to
change the mindset of free will believers. Each genre had its own limitations however they
carried their purpose and allowed for the audience to be persuaded.

GENRE ANALYSIS OF FREE WILL

References

What is a TEDx event? | Before you start | Organize a local TEDx event | Participate | TED.
(n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2016, from https://www.ted.com/participate/organize-alocal-tedx-event/before-you-start/what-is-a-tedx-event

GENRE ANALYSIS OF FREE WILL

Caruso, G. (2014, December 09). The dark side of free will | Gregg Caruso |
TEDxChemungRiver. Retrieved February 12, 2016, from https://www. youtube.com/
watch?v=rfOMqehl-ZA

Caruso, G. (n.d.). About. Retrieved February 17, 2016, from http://www.greggcaruso.com/

Crabtree, V. (2015, July 23). The illusion of choice: Free will and determinism. Retrieved
February 12, 2016, from http://www.humantruth.info/free_will.html

Crabtree, V. (n.d.). About Vexen Crabtree. Retrieved February 19, 2016, from
http://www.vexen.co.uk/vexen.html

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