The Self and Free Will

The philosophy of the self is concerned with the nature of the self, including its relationship to consciousness, the body, and the external world.

Søren Kierkegaard is known for his theory of the 'divided self', which posits that the self is divided between its finite and infinite aspects.

The 'hard problem of consciousness' is the problem of explaining how consciousness arises from physical processes. It is considered to be one of the most difficult problems in philosophy.

David Hume argued that free will is an illusion because all of our actions are determined by our desires and aversions, which are in turn caused by our circumstances.

The 'compatibilist' view of free will holds that free will is compatible with determinism, meaning that even if our actions are determined by our circumstances, we can still be held morally responsible for them.

Immanuel Kant argued that free will is a necessary condition for moral responsibility because it is only if we have free will that we can be held responsible for our actions.

The 'libertarian' view of free will holds that free will is incompatible with determinism, meaning that our actions are not determined by our circumstances and that we have genuine freedom of choice.

Sigmund Freud argued that free will is an illusion because our actions are determined by our unconscious desires, which are beyond our conscious control.

The 'Frankfurt case' is a thought experiment that challenges the compatibilist view of free will by showing that it is possible for someone to be morally responsible for an action even if they were not able to do otherwise.

John Stuart Mill argued that free will is a necessary condition for human flourishing because it is only if we have free will that we can pursue our own goals and values.

The 'compatibilist' response to the 'Frankfurt case' is that it is not a valid argument against compatibilism because it relies on a mistaken understanding of the concept of freedom.

René Descartes argued that free will is a necessary condition for the existence of God because it is only if we have free will that we can choose to love and obey God.

The 'libertarian' response to the 'Frankfurt case' is that it is a valid argument against compatibilism because it shows that it is possible for someone to be morally responsible for an action even if they were not able to do otherwise.

Francis Crick argued that free will is an illusion because our actions are determined by our genes, which are beyond our conscious control.

The 'compatibilist' view of moral responsibility holds that we are morally responsible for our actions even if they were determined by our circumstances, as long as we had the ability to choose otherwise.