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tomarin
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Why did David Hume think free will was an illusion? In other words, what evidence did he give?
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tomarin
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If that’s what he thought, it wouldn’t disprove free will, because the act of making a decision (even if clouded by emotions) is an act of free will.
I can understand making the statement ‘we can never tell if there is free will for sure’ but not ‘there is no such thing as free will.’
I can understand making the statement ‘we can never tell if there is free will for sure’ but not ‘there is no such thing as free will.’
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Rhubarb
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Hume was a compatiblist. He thought that free will wasn’t contradicted by a determinist universe.
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tomarin
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Wouldn’t that mean he believed free will was possible, if it wasn’t contradicted (double negative)?Hume was a compatiblist. He thought that free will wasn’t contradicted by a determinist universe.
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Rhubarb
Guest
Yes. He believed that we do have free will, even though we live in a universe that is deterministic (some philosophers say a deterministic universe makes free will impossible)
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tomarin
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I was under the opposite impression.
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Rhubarb
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https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume-freewill/
Most of Hume’s thoughts on free will comes from one essay. Hume isn’t the easiest to read. Philosophers in general aren’t easy to read.
Basically, he thought that there are two kinds of actions- free actions that are caused by our wills, and unfree actions which we are not subject to moral censure/praise for. So, if I smash into the car in front of me because I’m reading text messages, that’s on me and I’m morally culpable for it. But if I smash into the car in front of me because I was rear-ended myself, that action (the action of smashing the car in front of me) was not caused by my will -it was caused by the deterministic nature of the universe. And I’m not to blame.
This, of course, is a very laughably basic treatment of his rationale and doesn’t get into his argument. But that’s what he thought.
Most of Hume’s thoughts on free will comes from one essay. Hume isn’t the easiest to read. Philosophers in general aren’t easy to read.
Basically, he thought that there are two kinds of actions- free actions that are caused by our wills, and unfree actions which we are not subject to moral censure/praise for. So, if I smash into the car in front of me because I’m reading text messages, that’s on me and I’m morally culpable for it. But if I smash into the car in front of me because I was rear-ended myself, that action (the action of smashing the car in front of me) was not caused by my will -it was caused by the deterministic nature of the universe. And I’m not to blame.
This, of course, is a very laughably basic treatment of his rationale and doesn’t get into his argument. But that’s what he thought.
T
tomarin
Guest
So it could be said he believed in free will, at least some of the time. I will have to revisit whatever source told me he didn’t.Hume on Free Will (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Most of Hume’s thoughts on free will comes from one essay. Hume isn’t the easiest to read. Philosophers in general aren’t easy to read.
Basically, he thought that there are two kinds of actions- free actions that are caused by our wills, and unfree actions which we are not subject to moral censure/praise for. So, if I smash into the car in front of me because I’m reading text messages, that’s on me and I’m morally culpable for it. But if I smash into the car in front of me because I was rear-ended myself, that action (the action of smashing the car in front of me) was not caused by my will -it was caused by the deterministic nature of the universe. And I’m not to blame.
This, of course, is a very laughably basic treatment of his rationale and doesn’t get into his argument. But that’s what he thought.
R
Rhubarb
Guest
Yes, that’s right. And I would say that in the situations he didn’t believe in free will see situations you would agree to, too.
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