Deck 4: Freedom and Responsibility

Question 1

Indeterminism implies libertarianism.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Freedom of action requires a causal break in the choice process.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Libertarianism implies that people are always responsible for what they do.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

According to "illusionism," we should tell everybody that their belief in free will is an illusion.

Question 5

If our lives are not fated, then we must have free will.

Question 6

"We have free will when we can do what we want to do." This statement reflects the view of

A) classical compatibilism.
B) deep-self compatibilism.
C) libertarianism.
D) impossibilism.

Question 7

Determinism is the view that

A) quantum physics correctly describes the behavior of subatomic particles.
B) all events are governed by causal laws.
C) not all events are governed by causal laws.
D) we must struggle against our fate.

Question 8

Determinism implies that all future events could be predicted if

A) there weren't so much chance of the world.
B) we were mystics.
C) we knew enough.
D) we had faith in God.

Question 9

"You will die on August 10, 2041, no matter what you do." This statement would be an example of

A) hard impossibilism.
B) fatalism.
C) determinism.
D) deep-self compatibilism.

Question 10

The problem with looking at our choices to see if they are free/uncaused is that

A) our choices might be determined.
B) it won't tell us how our actions happened.
C) there may be unconscious causes for those choices.
D) our choices might be fated.

Question 11

The hard determinist differs from the libertarian in believing

A) contra-causal freedom is conceptually coherent.
B) contra-causal freedom would be a desirable thing to have.
C) contra-causal freedom implies moral responsibility and vice versa.
D) we do not have contra-causal freedom.

Question 12

If God gave us free will, it's hard to see how God could

A) love humanity.
B) make a rock so big he can't lift it.
C) predict the future.
D) know the past.

Question 13

Hard determinism says that

A) we are always responsible for what we do.
B) we are sometimes responsible for what we do.
C) we are never responsible for what we do.
D) it's hard to live with determinism.

Question 14

Hard impossibilism says that

A) events happened by chance.
B) free will puts a difficult burden on us.
C) free will is an incoherent notion.
D) free will is a perfectly sensible idea.

Question 15

Contra-causal freedom seems to imply a causal break somewhere in the choice process because

A) otherwise our choices would be governed by causal laws.
B) otherwise we would not have freedom of action.
C) otherwise our choices would be fated.
D) None of the above

Question 16

Susan Wolf says that to have free will we must have a deep self that (a) can evaluate ourselves sensibly and accurately and (b)

A) is contra-causally free.
B) is fated to be free.
C) is sane.
D) None of the above

Question 17

Quantum physics implies that

A) determinism is false.
B) indeterminism is false.
C) all events are fated.
D) no events are fated.

Question 18

The impossibilist argument says that contra-causal freedom is impossible because

A) determinism is true.
B) contra-causal freedom makes no sense.
C) all our choices are fated.
D) None of the above

Question 19

Impossibilism becomes hard impossibilism with the addition of the following premise:

A) It is hard being an impossibilist.
B) Freedom is compatible with determinism.
C) Responsibility requires contra-causal freedom.
D) Our choices might be determined.

Question 20

One difficulty in believing that all events are fated is that if they were fated

A) life should be much more orderly.
B) life should be much more chaotic.
C) we should get more of what we want.
D) None of the above

Question 21

"Contra-causal freedom would be a desirable thing to have." Which of the following would be most likely to reject this statement?

A) Hard determinist
B) Libertarian
C) Hard impossibilist
D) Fatalist

Question 22

The problem with imagining that contra-causal freedom involves a causal break between the personality and the mental act of choice is that it implies

A) the personality just appears from nowhere and then causes choices.
B) that actions result from a mental event (choice) that is in no way caused by the thoughts, wants, or moral views which we are calling the personality.
C) choices don't result in actions.
D) None of the above

Question 23

Soft determinism involves

A) determinism plus compatibilism.
B) determinism plus incompatibilism.
C) a combination of determinism and indeterminism.
D) None of the above

Question 24

Which of the following views would answer yes to all the following questions: Is contra-causal freedom necessary for moral responsibility? Is contra-causal freedom coherent and desirable? Are we ever morally responsible?

A) Compatibilism
B) Hard impossibilism
C) Hard determinism
D) Libertarianism

Question 25

Discuss in detail how you would have acted and reacted if you'd been in Q's place in "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends."

Question 26

Discuss in detail how you would have acted and reacted if you'd been in Satan's place in "A Little Omniscience Goes a Long Way." Would you have decided that having chance in Adam's and Eve's minds was an improvement over inevitability? Is there some way you could have refined the experiment that God and Satan conduct?

Question 27

Discuss your own news of freedom and responsibility in the light of what you have read in this chapter.

Question 28

"A free agent is he that can do as he will, and forbear as he will, and that liberty is the absence of external impediments." This quote is an example of what particular view? Explain.

Question 29

Peter Strawson says there are cases where an agent is not the sort of person toward whom resentment is ever appropriate. Why doesn't he think we would view everybody this way if we believed in determinism.

Question 30

Would a libertarian hold everybody responsible for every one of their actions? Explain your answer.