Reconciliation of libertarian free will with the contemporary neuroscientific advocacy for determinism in human action
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Date
2017-06
Authors
Nzioka, John Mosu
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The question of whether human actions are determined or not has been a perennial
philosophical concern from ancient Greek philosophy to date. Each era since then
has been looking at the problem from a different perspective inspired by the
circumstances of the time. This research clarifies what having free will means and
what this free will entails, and it also seeks to establish a case for freedom of the
will and the validity of the concept of personal responsibility for every human
action. It focuses on the recent advances in neuroscience which have led some
neuroscientists to conclude that human beings do not have free will. In particular,
it gives attention the Libetan experiments, interpretations of his findings and their
implications for the free will debate. The study ultimately reconciles the
deterministic position of neuroscience with the libertarian position on free will. It
shows that human actions can be determined to a certain extent by nature, nurture
and forces beyond human control, however, human conscious intention and
control of one‟s actions cannot be ruled out. To hold either the determinists‟
position or the libertarians‟ position as the only valid explanation for human
action, the research establishes, would be erroneous since our actions are free but
are at the same time governed by forces that we have no control over, in certain
circumstances. Additionally, there is need to examine every instance of a given
phenomenon before drawing general conclusions. This study finds fault in the
neuroscientific overreliance on experimental data and drawing questionable
inferences from their observations. It also finds fault with the libertarian ignorance
on the possibility of a free action being influenced by forces external to the agent
performing it. As its theoretical framework, the study adopts, firstly, the
compatibilist theory of free will which asserts that human actions may be
determined to a certain extent but not in their entirety. Secondly, the study
employs the Humean scepticism of causality to gauge the validity of claims
presented by both the Libertarians in support of free will and the neuroscientists in
their use of induction to affirm the deterministic nature of our actions. This
research is library based, and as such, it involves a logical analysis of the
arguments advanced by those who advocate for a libertarian free will and
arguments of those neuroscientists who advocate for determinism. It examines
whether the evidence provided by both parties is convincing and strong enough to
support their respective positions. The study further identifies the shortcomings
that each of the opposing sides has and proposes ways to reconcile them. The
research basically involves a consultation of literature that is relevant to the
research.
Description
A thesis submitted to the school of humanities and social sciences in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Arts (Philosophy) of Kenyatta University. June, 2017