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Determinism, Morality, Free Will: An essay inspired by Galen Strawson's Free Will

Jun‐Ichi Yano

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Abstract

The present short essay argues that a traditionally accepted order between the determinism, the free will, and the moral responsibility must be reversed. The determinism provides a basis for the moral responsibility. Existence of the moral responsibility, in turn, ensures the free will. The question of relations between the human moral responsibility and free will is often constructed in such a manner that the free will is a basis for our moral responsibility. Here, I propose that this question is better formulated in the other way round: we first define a basis of the moral responsibility, and once our capacity for moral responsibility is established, the notion of the free will naturally follows.

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What this paper is about

The present short essay argues that a traditionally accepted order between the determinism, the free will, and the moral responsibility must be reversed. The determinism provides a basis for the moral responsibility. Existence of the moral responsibility, in turn, ensures the free will. The question of relations between the human moral responsibility and free will is often constructed in such a manner that the free will is a basis for our moral responsibility. Here, I propose that this question is better formulated in the other way round: we first define a basis of the moral responsibility, and once our capacity for moral responsibility is established, the notion of the free will naturally follows.

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Available abstract

The present short essay argues that a traditionally accepted order between the determinism, the free will, and the moral responsibility must be reversed. The determinism provides a basis for the moral responsibility. Existence of the moral responsibility, in turn, ensures the free will. The question of relations between the human moral responsibility and free will is often constructed in such a manner that the free will is a basis for our moral responsibility. Here, I propose that this question is better formulated in the other way round: we first define a basis of the moral responsibility, and once our capacity for moral responsibility is established, the notion of the free will naturally follows.

Key concepts: Determinism, Morality, Free will, Compatibilism, Epistemology, Philosophy, Environmental ethics

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