The Free Will Show Episode 2: Fatalism, Foreknowledge, and Determinism with John Martin Fischer
Jul 29, 2020
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Death Penalty Consultations
- John Martin Fischer recounts consulting on death-penalty cases where his views on moral responsibility were used in sentencing hearings.
- In both consultations the defendant avoided execution, illustrating real-world stakes of free-will theories.
Garden Of Forking Paths
- Fischer uses the 'garden of forking paths' to characterize leeway freedom as having genuine alternative possibilities at decision points.
- He emphasizes freedom sometimes requires real alternative branches, not merely apparent choice.
Fixity Of The Past Is The Core Threat
- Fischer identifies the common engine behind fatalism, foreknowledge, and determinism as the fixity of the past being out of our control.
- He compares that fixity to being chained: past facts can function like constraints on present choices.