Free Will and Determinism

Overview:

The question of free will and determinism is one of the great debates in philosophy. Free will means having the power to choose among genuine alternatives. Philosophers called determinists deny that we have this power. They say that if every event has a cause and human actions are events, then human actions are caused. If our actions are caused, then there is no free will. The philosopher Richard Taylor, a former submarine officer in World War II, explores these issues in the next article.

Objectives:

After this module, you should be able to:

• Explain determinism.
• Analyze the arguments put forth by Taylor.
• Debate the ideas presented by Taylor.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the free will and determinism debate.
• Communicate ideas in the video and reading to your classmates.