Free Will: Sourcehood and Its Alternatives (Continuum Studies in Philosophy)

166 Pages·2008·0.43 MB·English

by  Kevin Timpe

Free Will
Continuum Studies in Philosophy
Series Editor: James Fieser, University of Tennessee at Martin, USA
Continuum Studies in Philosophy is a major monograph series
from Continuum. The series features fi rst-class scholarly research
monographs across the whole fi eld of philosophy. Each work
makes a major contribution to the fi eld of philosophical research.
Aesthetic in Kant: A Critique, James Kirwan
Analytic Philosophy: The History of an Illusion, Aaron Preston
Aquinas and the Ship of Theseus: Solving Puzzles about Material Objects,
Christopher M. Brown
The Challenge of Relativism: Its Nature and Limits, Patrick Phillips
The Demands of Taste in Kant’s Aesthetics, Brent Kalar
Descartes and the Metaphysics of Human Nature, Justin Skirry
Descartes’ Theory of Ideas, David Clemenson
Dialectic of Romanticism, Peter Murphy and David Roberts
Hegel’s Philosophy of Language, Jim Vernon
Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Subjectivity and Ethical Life, David James
The History of Intentionality, Ryan Hickerson
Kierkegaard’s Analysis of Radical Evil, David A. Roberts
Leibniz Re-interpreted, Lloyd Strickland
Metaphysics and the End of Philosophy, H. O. Mounce
Nietzsche and the Greeks, Dale Wilkerson
Origins of Analytic Philosophy: Kant and Frege, Delbert Reed
Philosophy of Miracles, David Corner
Platonism, Music and the Listener’s Share, Christopher Norris
Popper’s Theory of Science: An Apologia, Carlos Garcia
The Role of God in Spinoza’s Metaphysics, Sherry Deveaux
Rousseau and the Ethics of Virtue, James Delaney
Rousseau’s Theory of Freedom, Matthew Simpson
Spinoza and the Stoics: Power, Politics and the Passions, Firmin DeBrabander
Spinoza’s Radical Cartesian Mind, Tammy Nyden-Bullock
St Augustine and the Theory of Just War, John Mark Mattox
St Augustine of Hippo: The Christian Transformation of Political Philosophy,
R. W. Dyson
Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus: Natural Theology in the High Middle
Ages, Alex Hall
Tolerance and the Ethical Life, Andrew Fiala
Free Will
Sourcehood and Its Alternatives
Kevin Timpe
Continuum International Publishing Group
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© Kevin Timpe 2008
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-10: HB: 0–8264–9625–3
ISBN-13: HB: 978–0–8264–9625–6
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Timpe, Kevin.
Free will: sourcehood and its alternatives/Kevin Timpe.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8264-9625-6
1. Free will and determinism. I. Title.
BJ1460.T56 2008
123´.5—dc22
2007051295
Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddles, Norfolk
To Allison
whose never-ending support, constant encouragement, and contagious
joy have made this, and so much else, a reality.
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Part I: Introducing the Issues
Chapter 1: The Basics 3
Introduction 3
Moral Responsibility 5
Free Will 9
The Thesis of Causal Determinism 12
Compatibilism and Incompatibilism 14
Two Kinds of Incompatibilism 16
Part II: Alternative Possibilities
Chapter 2: The Debate Over the Ability to do Otherwise 21
Introduction 21
The Basic Argument and Alternative Possibilities 21
Compatibilism and Alternative Possibilities 23
Incompatibilism and Alternative Possibilities 31
Chapter 3: The Dilemma Defense 33
Introduction 33
The Dilemma Posed 33
Rebutting the Dilemma 38
Agential Focus 51
Chapter 4: Flickers of Freedom 53
Introduction 53
The Flicker Strategy 53
Dialectical Considerations 65
Pointing Toward Sourcehood 68
Part III: The Importance of Sourcehood
Chapter 5: Sourcehood and Compatibilism 71
Moving from Alternatives to Sourcehood 71
Two Compatibilist Accounts of Sourcehood 74
viii Contents
Chapter 6: Sourcehood and Incompatibilism 86
Pereboom’s 4-case Argument 86
Source Incompatibilism 92
Incompatibilism, Indeterminism and Luck 97
Chapter 7: Sourcehood and Alternative Possibilities 103
Taking Stock 103
Two Kinds of Source Incompatibilism 104
Incompatibilism without AP 106
Conclusion 118
Notes 122
Bibliography 142
Index 153
Acknowledgments
The hardest part of a book for its author to write is probably the acknowledg-
ments; the same part will also be the least interesting to many (if not most)
readers. I ask the reader’s indulgence. This book would not have been possible
without the considerable help, support, and input of others. And while the
words that follow cannot encapsulate the debts I owe, they are words deserving
of attention.
During the past few years, I have received comments, suggestions, and criti-
cisms on various parts of this manuscript from Chris Callaway, Joe Campbell,
Tom Flint, Alicia Finch, John Martin Fischer, Carl Gillett, Bob Kane, Todd Long,
Michael McKenna, Mike Murray, Ryan Nichols, Tim Pawl, Derk Pereboom,
Mike Rea, Dennis Rohatyn, Heather Ross, Seth Shabo, Dan Speak, Eleonore
Stump, Manuel Vargas, and Kip Werking. A reading group composed of a
number of my colleagues at the University of San Diego worked through a draft
of the book during the summer of 2007. I want to express my gratitude to H. E.
Baber, Robert Bolger, Tyler Hower, and Matt Zwolinski for the many hours
they devoted to the present project as part of this group. I would also like to
thank Neil Levy and Neal Tognazzini for extensive comments on the volume as
a whole during multiple stages of its development. In particular, Neal has been
an invaluable interlocutor and sounding board for almost everything that
I have written (or thought) about free will in the past few years. His impact on
this volume is extensive, even if not always explicit. In addition to their com-
ments, I have learned much about both free will and how to do philosophy
from John Martin Fischer, Michael McKenna, Derk Pereboom, and Eleonore
Stump. Their work has shaped, in ways big and small, seen and unseen, my own
work. While I have no doubt that they disagree with many of the claims I make
in this book, I hope that I have nevertheless made them proud.
I am also indebted to a number of individuals at Continuum Press. Jim Fieser
not only suggested the project, but graciously supported me throughout it.
Sarah Douglas and Tom Crick shepherded me through the various stages of the
manuscript’s development and cheerfully answered innumerable questions. It
may not be often that one can honestly say it was pleasurable to work with one’s
editors, but I can.
The completion of this manuscript was supported by a Faculty Research
Grant from the University of San Diego’s College of Arts and Sciences during
the fall of 2007. The University of San Diego has been a great place to under-
take this project, and I am very thankful for its support.
This volume makes considerable use of some of my previously published
work. Parts of two entries I wrote for the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,