Staces Compatibilism

1
Staces Compatibilism

• The only reasonable view is that all human
  actions, both those which are freely done and
  those which are not, are either wholly determined
  by causes, or at least as much determined as
  other events in nature.- Walter T. Stace (1952,
  p. 179)

2
An Arg. for FW

• Free will actions that are not wholly
  determined by causes or predictable beforehand
• If DET, then all actions are wholly determined by
  causes, etc.
• So, FW

3
Staces Objection

• Deny P1 incorrect definition of free will.
• The correct one is compatible with determinism
• The dispute is merely verbal

4
Merely Verbal Disputes

• Suppose I say there are no men
• You disagree
• My argument there are no five-legged animals
• By men I mean five-legged animals
• We realize theres no substantive disagreement
  between us
• We both agree there are no five-legged animals

5
Is FW Issue Merely Verbal?

• Probably not exactly
• It depends on what his opponents would say upon
  hearing his proposal
• They probably think theyve got the correct
  definition of free will
• That is a substantive dispute

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Free Acts vs. Unfree Acts

• Free Acts
• Ghandi fasting
• Starving person stealing food
• Signing a confession b/c ones guilty
• Leaving office to eat lunch

• Unfree Acts
• Stranded person fasting
• Stealing to avoid a beating
• Signing confession to avoid a beating
• Leaving b/c forcibly removed

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Relevant Causes

• Cause of Gandhi's fasting his desire to free
  India
• Cause of man fasting in desert the absence of
  food in the desert

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Staces Positive Proposal

• Whats common to each category?
• Free actions those whose immediate causes are
  psychological states in the agent (p. 180).
• Unfree actions those whose immediate causes
  are states of affairs external to the agent
  (ibid.)

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Objection to Stace

• Consider a case of me handing over wallet at
  gunpoint
• My fear of death (a mental state) was the
  immediate cause of my handing over my wallet
• Yet I didnt hand it over of my own free will
• immediate psychological cause but no free
  action(counterexample)

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Staces Response

• Well, this is a borderline case
• Sure, we say youre not free
• But only b/c the immediate cause is practically
  the gun at your head, which is external

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Conclusion?

• This isnt satisfying
• But maybe it doesnt destroy the view
• It at least needs to be amended, but perhaps not
  rejected
• Need to figure out what kinds of psychological
  causes are relevant to free action/free will