Topics

Personal identity Free will

Personal identity

Problem
What is necessary and sufficient for a past or future you to be you?

Necessary & sufficient conditions

If A is a necessary condition for B, then its not possible for B to hold without A holding. If A is a sufficient condition for B, then if A holds B must hold, (i.e., the absence of B guarantees the absence of A).

Problem
What is necessary and sufficient for a past or future you to be you? In other words, under what conditions you-at-t1 and you-at-t2 are the same person?

Identity (sameness)
Numerical identity. To say that this and that are numerically identical is to say that they are one and the same: one thing rather than two. Qualitative identity. Things are qualitatively identical when they are exactly similar (i.e., share a number of qualities).

Qualitative identity

 What is necessary and sufficient for a past or future being to be you? This question is about numerical identity!

Lockes view
P at t2 = P at t1 iff P at t2 is conscious of the same things as P at t1 Personal identity = identity of total psychology

Free will

Problem
Can we have free will if determinism is true? Do we have free will?

Can we have free will if determinism is true?

Determinism is the view that every event is caused to occur by preceding events. Incompatibilism: no; free will is incompatible with determinism. Compatibilism: yes; free will is compatible with determinism.

Incompatibilism
Incompatibilism: free will is incompatible with determinism. So either we have free will & determinism is false OR determinism is true & we dont have free will. Libertarians: we have free will & determinism is false. Determinists: determinism is true & we dont have free will.

Compatibilism
Compatibilism: yes; free will is compatible with determinism. How is this possible?

Determinism
Determinists: determinism is true & we dont have free will. Every event is caused to occur by preceding events.

Problems for determinism

An event is an act that is causally determined. But then the agent of the act could not have acted otherwise than in the way that she did. So how can she be morally responsible for her actions?

Libertarianism
Libertarians: we have free will & determinism is false. Some of our behavior might be determined, but our actions are not determined. We are the ultimate causes of our actions.

Problems for libertarianism

Determinism seems true. Every event is caused to occur by preceding events. So nothing can be a selfcausing cause.