on what assumption is the entire legal system based on
free will and personal responsibility exist
Freedom definition Nagel & Strawson
they say freedom is impossible because:
freedom that is tied to full autonomy
full autonomy —> person is the full cause of their actions
this definition leads to two demands that contradict one another
autonomy and authorship
Singer Free WIll & responsibility
no free will -> no responsibility is a fallacy
person + brain are responsible for the decision
example: tumor patient & easily aggressive person
just because we cannot measure why they are easily aggressive -> easily aggressive is not more responsible for their action
Singer Decisions
determined by multitude of variables
part of them brought into consciousness —> not control which ones
only conscious arguments are weighed and decision made
unconscious decisions: explanations seem nonsensical but make us feel good
Singer: what is the way we act dependent on
how we were raised
possibilities we were born with
environmental aspects
structures & neural circuits
—> what we do is consequence of state of our brain directly before we do it
—> only some of these variables are under our conscious control!
Singer: opinion on legal system
not important if someone killed out of free will or unfortunate external influences
person that kills is dangerous
has to be locked away or receive therapy
Pauen: intuitive free Will requirements
Autonomy (otherwise decision is forced) —> independency of all initial conditions
Authorship —> dependency on initial conditions regarding the actor
—> contradiction: SUBJECT THAT IS FREE FROM THEIR EXPERIENCE WISHES ETC CANNOT BE INITIATOR OF A DECISION
Pauen: Autonomy
Not sufficient to cause action:
external factors
combination of external factors that make action necessary
prior history
action dispositions that were freely chosen before would not violate autonomy
BUT in strict view: influence of action dispositions —> no autonomy
action dispositions
tendencies to act in a certain way
Autonomy in strict view
autonomy means action is also free of time
free of personal beliefs
free of action dispositions
must be able to result differently under identical conditions every time —> independency of past decisions
Pauen: Authorship
independent of chance
internal moments must be necessary & sufficient
requires dependency on initial conditions, past decisions, action dispositions
a subject free of experience,wishes etc. —> cannot be initiator of a decision
Pauen: Definition of freedom
= personal self-determination
consciously perceived conformity with intentions, beliefs, character traits
question is not if decision is determined but by whom!
Person has to be able to
modify their wish
postpone wish
decide for different outcome
Pauen: definition of no freedom
external or unconscious factors make decision for you
actions restricted by external forces and inhibitors
Responsibility Singer
Singer says responsible is the person that acted. That is the mere criteria
Responsibility Pauen
capacity for insight
responsible if you act out of conscious personal self-determination
ability to control actions
responsible if you could have stopped actions due to self-consciously controlled processes
Consequences if crime committed pauen
responsible: free action, conscious wishes & beliefs have to be corrected
no responsibility: not free, criteria like psychological disorders & external forces need to be corrected
Last changed2 months ago