PASTORAL COUNSEL FOR THE ANXIOUS NATURALIST: DANIEL DENNETT'S FREEDOM EVOLVES |
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Authors: | Timothy O'Connor |
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Institution: | Department of Philosophy, Sycamore 115, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA |
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Abstract: | Abstract: Daniel Dennett's Freedom Evolves is a rhetorically powerful but philosophically unconvincing attempt to show that a deterministic and ontologically reductionist, but epistemologically pluralist, outlook may peacefully coexist with a robust acceptance of human freedom and moral responsibility. The key to understanding the harmony rests in recognizing that freedom is not a metaphysical or physical condition but is instead a product of deeply embedded social practices. I argue that Dennett's project rests on an unargued and implausible deflationary stance toward basic metaphysics. |
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Keywords: | avoidability causation compatibilism determinism emergence explanation free will Humeanism naturalism reductionism |
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