The Free Will Show – Details, episodes & analysis

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&

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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/

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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

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Cohosts Taylor Cyr and Matt Flummer answer listener questions about the issues and ideas brought up in Season 1 of The Free Will Show.

We discussed Neil Levy's book Hard Luck  in this episode: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/hard-luck-9780199601387?cc=ca&lang=en&

If you have a question you’d like us to answer in a future Q&A episode, get in touch with us at thefreewillshow@gmail.com, via the show’s website: thefreewillshow.com, or through social media:

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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:

http://www.danakaynelkin.com/

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.jstor.org/stable/4106826?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

The Man in the High Castle is on Amazon Prime (Not Netflix!)

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:

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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:

http://derk-pereboom.net/

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

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:

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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:

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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/
A collection of Peter’s written work: https://andrewmbailey.com/pvi/

Papers referenced in the episode:

"Are We Free to Break the Laws?" by David Lewis
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1755-2567.1981.tb00473.x

“A Reconsideration of an Argument Against Compatibilism” by Thomas McKay and David Johnson https://www.pdcnet.org/philtopics/content/philtopics_1996_0024_0002_0113_0122

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

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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/