10: "Free Will" & The Myth of Moral Responsibility

Aug 24, 2021

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ANECDOTE

Tour Chat on Free Will Debate

The speaker shared a conversation on tour about free will and why many find the debate unimportant.
His friend said people believe what suits their temperament in absence of compelling evidence.

INSIGHT

Free Will Intuition is Illusory

The intuition that the will is free is not supported by evidence and is more like a religious belief.
The experience of choosing does not prove that the choice is genuinely free or uncaused.

INSIGHT

Nietzsche Rejects Moral Responsibility

Nietzsche argues no one is morally responsible for their deeds or nature; judging is unjust.
People prefer ignorance about free will to avoid uncomfortable consequences, says Nietzsche.

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Returning to our regularly scheduled lectures on Nietzsche... this week, we're going to wade into a hornet's nest and tackle one of the most contentious topics: freedom of the will. This episode will draw heavily on the conclusions reached in "9: The Wisdom of the Body", so brush up on the material there is you haven't already.

It's not uncommon to encounter people who have no interest in talking about free will. Wherever one meets a philosopher who does want to talk about it, they usually have a very strong opinion on the matter. I think the fact that many are hesitant to discuss the issue owes to the fact that there are so many intractable opinions, which people are unwilling to change and which it is hard to imagine what kind of evidence could motivate people to move on the topic. In essence, we have a philosophical gridlock: and thus, like the issue of God's existence, or moral realism, or political ideologies, the debate ends up resembling something less like a competition of ideas, and more like two sides asserting, in the absence of reason, their own temperamental convictions. Hopefully, Nietzsche's perspective on this topic can help sear through these stale debates. While Nietzsche took a strong stand on free will vs. determinism, his position is not all that easy to summarize neatly. Furthermore, his views on free will are not as popular as many of his other ideas: partially because they are misunderstood, and partially because his position offends our sensibilities. Nietzsche attacks the heart of the free will debate: the issue of moral responsibility. He says that we have no moral responsibility for our actions, and no man chooses his own nature. An incendiary idea, to be certain!

Michael Puett talks about Confucianism & the Chinese idea of the self: https://youtu.be/MfnSTr6-1g4

A short pair of clips of Hitchens' ironic comments on free will (RIP Hitch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG_TGNJfg0s

Episode art this week is courtesy of Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832)