
The Free Will Show
Do any of us really have free will? What does it mean to have free will, anyway? Is free will compatible with determinism? Hasn’t science disproved free will? How could we have free will if God exists and foreknows everything that we will ever do? The Free Will Show provides a beginner-friendly introduction to the topic of free will while at the same time exposing listeners to cutting-edge developments on the topic. Hosted by a couple of philosophers, Taylor Cyr and Matt Flummer, The Free Will Show features interviews with guests on a diverse array of issues relating to free will, including issues in science and theology. thefreewillshow.com
Latest episodes

May 30, 2024 • 46min
Episode 80: Instrumentalist Accounts of Moral Responsibility with Anneli Jefferson
In this episode, we talk with Anneli Jefferson about instrumentalist accounts of moral responsibility and some challenges for the view, including issues related to blaming the dead.Anneli's website: https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/jeffersona1Anneli's paper, "Instrumentalism about Moral Responsibility Revisited": https://academic.oup.com/pq/article/69/276/555/5266881?login=falseAnneli's paper, "Blaming the Dead": https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ejop.12947Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/

May 6, 2024 • 35min
Episode 79: Neuroethics and Moral Responsibility with Josh May
In this episode, we talk with Josh May about issues in neuroethics and the law and also about mental disorders and moral responsibility.Josh's website: https://www.joshdmay.com/Josh's book, Neuroethics: Agency in the Age of Brain Sciecne: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/neuroethics-9780197648094?cc=us&lang=en&Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/

Apr 22, 2024 • 49min
Episode 78: Narrative and Moral Responsibility with Meghan Griffith
In this episode, we talk with Meghan Griffith about developing a narrative capacity and how it relates to becoming morally responsible.Megan's website: https://www.davidson.edu/people/meghan-griffithMegan's paper, "Narrative Capacity and Moral Responsibility": https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-philosophy-and-policy/article/abs/narrative-capacity-and-moral-responsibility/B1685573B9DFCAEF6D0B22EA54222D46 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/

Apr 15, 2024 • 7min
The Free Will Show Book Trailer
Cohosts Taylor Cyr and Matt Flummer describe their new book How Free Are We? Conversations from the Free Will Show.Preorder the book from Oxford University Press: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/how-free-are-we-9780197657508?facet_narrowbybinding_facet=Ebook&facet_narrowbypubdate_facet=Last%203%20months&lang=en&cc=usAlso available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/How-Free-Are-We-Flummer/dp/0197657508Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/

Apr 8, 2024 • 45min
Episode 77: Ambivalence with Justin Coates
In this episode we talk with Justin Coates about the nature of ambivalence and arguments for and against it.Justin's website: https://djustincoates.com/index.htmlJustin's book, In Praise of Ambivalence: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/in-praise-of-ambivalence-9780197652398?q=justin%20coates&lang=en&cc=us#Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/

Mar 25, 2024 • 39min
Episode 76: The Standing to Punish with Tommie Shelby
In this episode, we talk with Tommie Shelby about whether and when states lack the standing to punish. We also discuss Tommie's book on prison abolitionism, which makes the case for prison reform without accepting that incarceration is illegitimate.Tommie's website: https://www.tommieshelby.com/Tommie's book, The Idea of Prison Abolition: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691229751/the-idea-of-prison-abolitionTwitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/

Mar 11, 2024 • 51min
Episode 75: Group Responsibility and Historicism with Stephanie Collins and Niels de Haan
In this episode, we talk with Stephanie Collins and Niels de Haan about whether structuralism or historicism best accounts for group responsibility.Stephanie's website: https://stephaniecollins.xyz/Niels's website: https://sites.google.com/view/niels-de-haan/homepageTheir paper, "Group Responsibility and Historicism": https://academic.oup.com/pq/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pq/pqad104/7329479Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/

Feb 26, 2024 • 37min
Episode 74: Omissions and Moral Luck with Joseph Metz
In this episode, we talk with Joseph Metz about moral luck and responsibility for omissions.Joe's website: https://www.joseph-metz.com/homeJoe's paper, “Omissions, Moral Luck, and Minding the (Epistemic) Gap”: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/canadian-journal-of-philosophy/article/omissions-moral-luck-and-minding-the-epistemic-gap/F95FD50121A509FB66C3691D49D91B03Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/

Feb 12, 2024 • 50min
Episode 73: Corporate Criminal Responsibility with Mihailis Diamantis
In this episode, we talk with Mihailis Diamantis about the nature of corporations and some similarities between corporate and individual criminal responsibility.Mihailis's website: https://law.uiowa.edu/people/mihailis-diamantisMihailis's paper, "Corporate Criminal Minds": https://ndlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/NDL509.pdfTwitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/

Jan 29, 2024 • 31min
Episode 72: Crime and Reparations with Raff Donelson
In this episode, we talk with Raff Donelson about several different topics, including his response to free will skepticism, whether its okay to make people responsible to make reparations for historical injustices, and his recent work on medieval criminal trials involving non-human animals.Raff's website: https://www.raffdonelson.com/Raff's paper, "Reparation, Responsibility, and Formalism: A Reply to Carnes": https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3717192Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/