Philosophy 109

The goal of the course is to provide a selective introduction to historical and contemporary debates about the issues of freedom and responsibility. We will look at the following questions (among others): What is freedom of the will? What is it to be a free agent, or to have freedom of thought? What is involved in moral blame and moral accountability? What kind of freedom do we require to be morally responsible or blameworthy for what we do? Are freedom and responsibility possible if our actions are ultimately governed by deterministic laws? Can moral agency be realized in a world of natural causal processes?

Readings will be drawn from both historical and contemporary sources.

As taught this semester, Phil 109 satisfies the ethics requirement for the philosophy major.