Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Free Will Show
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 107: Ibn Sīnā with Jon McGinnis | 10 Nov 2025 | 01:01:50 | |
In this episode, we talk with Jon McGinnis about Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) and his views about divine and human agency. Jon's website: https://www.medieval.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/jon-mcginnis Jon's book, Avicenna: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/avicenna-9780195331479?cc=us&lang=en& Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow | |||
| Episode 106: Boethius with John Marenbon | 27 Oct 2025 | 00:45:06 | |
In this episode, we talk with John Marenbon about free will and foreknowledge in Boethius's most famous work, the Consolation of Philosophy. John's PhilPeople profile: https://philpeople.org/profiles/john-marenbon John's Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Boethius: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/boethius/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow | |||
| Episode 97: Intention and Memory with Wayne Wu | 14 Apr 2025 | 00:43:44 | |
In this episode, we talk with Wayne Wu about his work on automaticity, attention, and memory in the philosophy of action. Wayne's website: https://www.waynewu.net/ Wayne's book, Movements of the Mind: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/movements-of-the-mind-9780192866899 Wayne's new book, Attention: https://www.routledge.com/Attention/Wu/p/book/9781032121772 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow | |||
| Episode 10: Q&A | 23 Nov 2020 | 00:34:09 | |
Cohosts Taylor Cyr and Matt Flummer answer listener questions about the issues and ideas brought up in Season 1 of The Free Will Show. Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| Episode 9: Moral Luck with Dana Kay Nelkin | 09 Nov 2020 | 00:40:35 | |
In this episode, Dana Kay Nelkin explains the problem of moral luck, which raises a challenge for all theories of freedom and responsibility. After giving several examples of moral luck, Dana explains some types of response to this challenge. Dana’s website: Dana’s article on Moral Luck in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-luck/ Thomas Nagel's famous paper on moral luck: https://www.amazon.com/Man-High-Castle-Season/dp/B00RSGFRY8 If you have a question you’d like us to answer in our Q&A episode, get in touch with us at thefreewillshow@gmail.com, via the show’s website: thefreewillshow.com, or through social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| Episode 8: The Manipulation Argument with Derk Pereboom | 26 Oct 2020 | 00:51:16 | |
In this episode, Derk Pereboom explains the manipulation argument—an argument that aims at showing that determinism and free will are incompatible. After walking us through his widely discussed “Four-Case Argument,” Derk summarizes Alfred Mele’s “Zygote Argument” and responds to a variety of objections to manipulation arguments. Derk’s website: Derk’s Books: Free Will, Agency, and Meaning in Life: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/free-will-agency-and-meaning-in-life-9780198776864?cc=ca&lang=en&# Four Views on Free Will: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Four+Views+on+Free+Will-p-9781405134866 Others mentioned in the episode: Mele’s Zygote Argument can be found in chapter 7 of Free Will and Luck: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/free-will-and-luck-9780195374391?cc=us&lang=en& McKenna’s Hard-Line Reply: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1933-1592.2008.00179.x | |||
| Episode 7: Frankfurt Cases with Carolina Sartorio | 12 Oct 2020 | 00:42:39 | |
In this episode, Carolina Sartorio explains “Frankfurt cases”—cases that call into question the intuitive idea, sometimes called the principle of alternative possibilities (“PAP” for short), according to which moral responsibility requires alternative possibilities. After talking through one type of objection to Frankfurt cases, Carolina discusses the significance of Frankfurt cases, which she argues extends beyond their role as alleged counterexamples to PAP. Carolina’s Website: http://sartorio.arizona.edu/ Carolina’s Book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/causation-and-free-will-9780198746799?cc=ca&lang=en& Frankfurt’s Paper: https://philpapers.org/rec/FRAAPA-8 Mele and Robb’s Paper: https://philpapers.org/rec/MELRFC If you have a question you’d like us to answer in our Q&A episode, get in touch with us at thefreewillshow@gmail.com, via the show’s website: thefreewillshow.com, or through social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| Episode 6: The Problem of Luck with Alfred Mele | 28 Sep 2020 | 00:38:29 | |
In this episode, Alfred Mele explains the problem of luck for libertarianism (the view that we have free will and that free will is incompatible with determinism). Along the way, we discuss different types of libertarian views of free will, as well as Al’s own proposed solution to the problem of luck on behalf of libertarians. Al’s Website: http://myweb.fsu.edu/amele/almele.html Al’s book on this subject: Free Will and Luck: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/free-will-and-luck-9780195374391?cc=us&lang=en& If you have a question you’d like us to answer in our Q&A episode, get in touch with us at thefreewillshow@gmail.com, via the show’s website: thefreewillshow.com, or through social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| Episode 5: The Consequence Argument with Peter van Inwagen | 14 Sep 2020 | 00:33:26 | |
In this episode, Peter van Inwagen explains the consequence argument for incompatibilism. Afterwards, he discusses what he takes to be the problem of freedom and determinism. Peter’s Website: https://philosophy.nd.edu/people/emeritus/peter-van-inwagen/ Papers referenced in the episode: If you have a question you’d like us to answer in our Q&A episode, get in touch with us at thefreewillshow@gmail.com, via the show’s website: thefreewillshow.com, or through social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| Episode 4: Divine Foreknowledge with Linda Zagzebski | 31 Aug 2020 | 00:44:49 | |
In this episode, Linda Zagzebski explains the argument from God’s infallible foreknowledge to the conclusion that no one has free will. After discussing several responses to the argument, she then explains why this problem is interesting—whether one is a theist or not. Linda’s website: https://www.ou.edu/cas/philosophy/people/faculty/linda-zagzebski Recommended resources: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Foreknowledge and Free Will”: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/free-will-foreknowledge/ Linda's first book, The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-dilemma-of-freedom-and-foreknowledge-9780195107630?cc=us&lang=en&# If you have a question you’d like us to answer in our Q&A episode, get in touch with us at thefreewillshow@gmail.com, via the show’s website: thefreewillshow.com, or through social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| Episode 3: Logical Fatalism with Alicia Finch | 17 Aug 2020 | 00:54:45 | |
In this episode, Alicia Finch explains an intriguing argument for logical fatalism—the view that the laws of logic preclude out having free will—as well as four types of response to the argument. Alicia’s website: https://www.aliciafinch.com/ Recommended resources: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Fatalism”: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/fatalism/ If you have a question you’d like us to answer in our Q&A episode, get in touch with us at thefreewillshow@gmail.com, via the show’s website: thefreewillshow.com, or through social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| The Free Will Show Trailer | 04 Aug 2020 | 00:02:31 | |
Cohosts Taylor Cyr and Matt Flummer describe Season 1 of The Free Will Show. Matt’s website: matthewflummer.weebly.com/ If you have a question you’d like us to answer in our Q&A episode, get in touch with us at thefreewillshow@gmail.com, via the show’s website: thefreewillshow.com, or through social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| Episode 2: Fatalism, Foreknowledge, and Determinism with John Martin Fischer | 29 Jul 2020 | 00:51:10 | |
In this episode, John Martin Fischer explains three potential threats to our having free will in the sense of having the freedom to do otherwise than what we actually do: the threats from logical fatalism, divine foreknowledge, and causal determinism. John ends by giving a teaser for an alternative conception of free will. Recommended resources: The book that John mentions at the end of the episode is Four Views on Free Will: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Four+Views+on+Free+Will-p-9781405134866 If you have a question you’d like us to answer in our Q&A episode, get in touch with us at thefreewillshow@gmail.com, via the show’s website: thefreewillshow.com, or through social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| Episode 96: The Problem of Blame with Kelly McCormick | 31 Mar 2025 | 01:01:46 | |
In this episode we talk to Kelly McCormick about the problem of blame and her reasons for thinking that we shouldn’t eliminate blame from our lives. Kelly's website: https://addran.tcu.edu/view/kelly-mccormick Kelly's book: The Problem of Blame Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow | |||
| Episode 1: An Introduction to Free Will | 28 Jul 2020 | 00:39:48 | |
In this episode, cohosts Taylor Cyr and Matt Flummer present an introduction to the philosophy of free will, including a discussion of differing conceptions of free will, how free will is related to moral responsibility, and why it matters if we have free will. Recommended resources: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Free Will”: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/freewill/ The study by psychologists from Brown University is: “Free Will without Metaphysics” by Andrew Monroe and Bertram Malle, available here: http://research.clps.brown.edu/soccogsci/Publications/Pubs/Monroe_Malle_2015_Free_will_without_metaphysics.pdf If you have a question you’d like us to answer in our Q&A episode, get in touch with us at thefreewillshow@gmail.com, via the show’s website: thefreewillshow.com, or through social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| Episode 0: Introduction to the Free Will Show | 27 Jul 2020 | 00:39:15 | |
In this episode, cohosts Taylor Cyr and Matt Flummer introduce themselves and this podcast. Along the way they discuss what the discipline of philosophy is and why they’re making this podcast. Taylor’s website: taylorwcyr.com Matt’s website: matthewflummer.weebly.com/ Also, Matt forgot to mention the name of his college: Porterville College If you have a question you’d like us to answer in our Q&A episode, get in touch with us at thefreewillshow@gmail.com, via the show’s website: thefreewillshow.com, or through social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| Episode 95: Experimental Philosophy and Free Will with Eddy Nahmias | 17 Mar 2025 | 00:59:14 | |
In this episode, we talk with Eddy Nahmias about the experimental philosophy of free will and his own compatibilist view. Eddy's Website: https://eddynahmias.com/ Eddy's paper (with Nadelhoffer and Morris): Is Incompatibilism Intuitive? Eddy's paper with Oisin Deery: Why the Manipulation Argument Fails: Determinism Does Not Entail Perfect Prediction Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow | |||
| Episode 94: Time Travel and Free Will with Neal Tognazzini | 24 Feb 2025 | 01:01:07 | |
In this episode, we talk with Neal Tognazzini about time travel and free will as well as some non-standard threats to free will from other areas of metaphysics. Neal's website: https://sites.google.com/view/neal-tognazzini/home?authuser=0 Neal's paper (with Andrew Law), "Free Will and Two Local Determinisms": https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10670-018-9992-9 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow | |||
| Episode 93: Basic Responsibility with Matt King | 10 Feb 2025 | 00:47:27 | |
In this episode, we talk with Matt King about various kinds of responsibility and how they all share in what he calls the basic responsibility relation. Matt's website: https://dr-matt-king.squarespace.com/ Matt's book: Simply Responsible Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow | |||
| Episode 92: The Paradox of Moral Education with Sabrina Little | 27 Jan 2025 | 00:30:14 | |
In this episode, we talk with Sabrina Little about a puzzle about free will in the context of moral education. Sabrina's website: https://sabrinalittle.com/ | |||
| Episode 91: Agency Incompatibilism with Helen Steward | 13 Jan 2025 | 00:41:59 | |
In this episode, we talk with Helen Steward about her view that agency itself, not just free agency, is incompatible with determinism. | |||
| Episode 90: Sin and Free Will with Leigh Vicens | 23 Dec 2024 | 00:31:53 | |
In this episode, we talk with Leigh Vicens about what she calls the puzzle of sin and free will in Christianity. We consider how compatibilists, libertarians, and free will skeptics might respond to the puzzle. | |||
| Episode 89: Free Will in Heaven with Benjamin Matheson | 09 Dec 2024 | 00:37:01 | |
In this episode we talk with Benjamin Matheson about various problems concerning both compatibilist and libertarian free will in heaven. | |||
| Episode 88: Divine Freedom with Thomas Ward | 25 Nov 2024 | 00:54:22 | |
In this episode, we talk with Tom Ward about divine free will, focusing on Duns Scotus's view of divine free will and the act of creation. | |||
| Episode 105: Augustine of Hippo with Jesse Couenhoven | 13 Oct 2025 | 01:06:23 | |
In this episode, we talk with Jesse Coeuenhoven about Augustine’s views on free will, moral responsibility, and predestination. Jesse's website: https://www1.villanova.edu/university/liberal-arts-sciences/programs/theology/faculty/biodetail.html?mail=jesse.couenhoven@villanova.edu&xsl=bio_long Jesse's book: Striken by Sin, Cured by Christ: Agency, Necessity, and Culpability in Augustinian Theology Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow | |||
| Episode 87: Grace and Free Will with Kevin Timpe | 11 Nov 2024 | 00:40:25 | |
In this episode, we talk with Kevin Timpe about grace and free will, focusing on a puzzle that arises for the Christian view of divine grace towards fallen human beings. | |||
| Episode 86: God, Purpose, and Reality with John Bishop and Ken Perszyk | 28 Oct 2024 | 01:06:25 | |
In this episode we talk with John Bishop and Ken Perszyk about the euteleological understanding of theism, which is an alternative to personal theism. | |||
| Episode 85: Petitionary Prayer and Free Will with Scott Davison | 14 Oct 2024 | 00:38:27 | |
In this episode, we talk with Scott Davison about petitionary prayer. We begin with what petitionary prayer is, and then we discuss challenges to petitionary prayer from divine free will. | |||
| Episode 84: Free Will and Providence with Alan Rhoda | 30 Sep 2024 | 00:47:31 | |
In this episode, we talk with Alan Rhoda about the strengths and weaknesses of various models of divine providence and free will. | |||
| Episode 83: Divine Causation and Creaturely Action with Gloria Frost | 16 Sep 2024 | 00:31:11 | |
In this episode, we talk with Gloria Frost about various views of divine causation of creaturely action, focusing on three views from the medieval period. | |||
| Episode 82: Compatibilism and the Problem of Evil with Jason Turner | 02 Sep 2024 | 00:39:18 | |
In this episode, we talk with Jason Turner about whether certain kinds of compatibilists can use the free will defense in response to the problem of evil. | |||
| Episode 81: Free Will and the Problem of Evil with Daniel Speak | 19 Aug 2024 | 00:49:57 | |
This ninth season of the podcast will explore topics on free will and theology. In this episode, we talk with Dan Speak about free will and the problem of evil. | |||
| Episode 80: Instrumentalist Accounts of Moral Responsibility with Anneli Jefferson | 30 May 2024 | 00:45:38 | |
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. | |||
| Episode 79: Neuroethics and Moral Responsibility with Josh May | 06 May 2024 | 00:34:56 | |
In this episode, we talk with Josh May about issues in neuroethics and the law and also about mental disorders and moral responsibility. | |||
| Episode 78: Narrative and Moral Responsibility with Meghan Griffith | 22 Apr 2024 | 00:49:16 | |
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-griffith | |||
| Episode 104: Plotinus with Anna Viatkina | 29 Sep 2025 | 01:01:05 | |
In this episode, we talk with Anna Viatkina about Plotinus’s views on freedom and moral responsibility and how they relate to ancient Stoic and contemporary rational abilities views. Anna's Google Scholar page: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KJmxq2gAAAAJ&hl=ru Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow | |||
| The Free Will Show Book Trailer | 15 Apr 2024 | 00:06:59 | |
Cohosts Taylor Cyr and Matt Flummer describe their new book How Free Are We? Conversations from the Free Will Show. Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535031200408/ | |||
| Episode 77: Ambivalence with Justin Coates | 08 Apr 2024 | 00:44:58 | |
In this episode we talk with Justin Coates about the nature of ambivalence and arguments for and against it. | |||
| Episode 76: The Standing to Punish with Tommie Shelby | 25 Mar 2024 | 00:38:32 | |
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/ | |||
| Episode 75: Group Responsibility and Historicism with Stephanie Collins and Niels de Haan | 11 Mar 2024 | 00:50:38 | |
In this episode, we talk with Stephanie Collins and Niels de Haan about whether structuralism or historicism best accounts for group responsibility. | |||
| Episode 74: Omissions and Moral Luck with Joseph Metz | 26 Feb 2024 | 00:36:43 | |
In this episode, we talk with Joseph Metz about moral luck and responsibility for omissions. | |||
| Episode 73: Corporate Criminal Responsibility with Mihailis Diamantis | 12 Feb 2024 | 00:50:02 | |
In this episode, we talk with Mihailis Diamantis about the nature of corporations and some similarities between corporate and individual criminal responsibility. Mihailis's paper, "Corporate Criminal Minds": https://ndlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/NDL509.pdf | |||
| Episode 72: Crime and Reparations with Raff Donelson | 29 Jan 2024 | 00:31:22 | |
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. | |||
| Episode 71: The Principle of Alternative Possibilities with Justin Capes | 15 Jan 2024 | 00:41:13 | |
In this episode, we talk with Justin Capes about the principle of alternative possibilities and his version of the flicker of freedom response to Frankfurt cases. | |||
| Episode 70: Forgiveness and the Law with Simone Gubler | 18 Dec 2023 | 00:26:56 | |
In this episode, we talk with Simone Gubler about forgiveness, its value, and some potential problems with institutional attempts to make forgiveness happen. | |||
| Episode 69: Addiction and the Law with Stephen Morse | 04 Dec 2023 | 00:38:15 | |
In this episode, we talk with Stephen Morse about the nature of addiction and about the moral and criminal responsibility of people who suffer from addiction. | |||
| Episode 103: Epicureanism and Stoicism with Tim O'Keefe | 15 Sep 2025 | 00:46:05 | |
In this episode, we talk with Tim O'Keefe about Epicurean and Stoic views of freedom and determinism. Tim's website: https://philpeople.org/profiles/tim-o-keefe Tim's book, Epicurus on Freedom: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/epicurus-on-freedom/F5058A8C45DB77CE70CA0BF56A3116F9 Tim's entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on "Ancient Theories of Freedom and Determinism": https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/freedom-ancient/
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| Episode 68: Psychopathy and the Law with David Shoemaker | 20 Nov 2023 | 00:41:30 | |
In this episode, we talk with David Shoemaker about his theory of different kinds of moral responsibility and its implications for psychopathy and the law. David's website: https://sites.google.com/site/dshoemakr/home David's book, Responsibility from the Margins: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/responsibility-from-the-margins-9780198715672?lang=en&cc=us | |||
| Episode 67: Children and the Law with Gideon Yaffe | 06 Nov 2023 | 00:39:21 | |
In this episode, we talk with Gideon Yaffe about whether and to what extent children should be held less culpable for breaking the law. | |||
| Episode 66: Overpunishment with Saul Smilansky | 23 Oct 2023 | 00:42:42 | |
In this episode, we talk with Saul Smilansky about overpunishment, focusing on the question of whether overpunishing a guilty person is morally worse than punishing an innocent person. We also briefly discuss Saul's work on free will and illusion. | |||