Philosophy Department

Freedom and Responsibility
(PHLV 3184)

Stan Tyvoll

This seminar will investigate several problems concerning freedom, responsibility and the morality of punishment. Some type of freedom or control seems to be necessary for an agent to be morally responsible for her actions.  Is this moral freedom possible in a world completely governed by physical laws? How can I be blamed (or praised) for my actions if my choices are largely determined by my genes, my upbringing, character, and environment, and these in turn are largely matters of luck? Is the practice of punishing criminals morally justifiable? Under what conditions should we excuse the agent as legally insane or not culpable for harmful actions?

Immanuel Kant,
leading Enlightenment philosopher