To be able to, or to be able not to? That is the question. A problem for the transcendental argument for free will

Nadine Elzein, Tuomas K. Pernu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

Abstract

A type of transcendental argument for libertarian free will maintains that if acting freely requires the availability of alternative possibilities, and determinism holds, then one is not justified in asserting that there is no free will. More precisely: if an agent A is to be justified in asserting a proposition P (e.g. "there is no free will"), then A must also be able to assert not-P. Thus, if A is unable to assert not-P, due to determinism, then A is not justified in asserting P. While such arguments often appeal to principles with wide appeal, such as the principle that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’, they also require a commitment to principles that seem far less compelling, e.g. the principle that ‘ought’ implies ‘able not to’ or the principle that having an obligation entails being responsible. It is argued here that these further principles are dubious, and that it will be difficult to construct a valid transcendental argument without them.
Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Journal of Analytic Philosophy
Volume15
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)13-32
Number of pages20
ISSN1845-8475
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Fields of Science

  • 611 Philosophy
  • Determinism
  • free will
  • epistemic deontologism
  • libertarianism

Cite this