The Philosophy of Freedom

1. The Philosophy of Freedom How Free Are We, Really?

2. “The Works are fine for some people; they seem to thrive on that life. But you've always been so free.”--Nan from Kurt Vonnegut’s “Deer in the Works” (1955)

3. Oedipus: A Fatalistic Reading • Fatalism: The future is fixed, irrespective of our attempts to change it • We are governed by Fate • Oedipus Rex • Kills father, marries mother • Tries but fails to change fate • Response? How could you argue otherwise?

4. Puritanism/Calvinism=Fatalists • God is omniscient-- knows our future • Future must unfold in accordance with God’s knowledge • Predestination: the elect and the damned • We have no free will Augustus Saint-Gaudens1887 (first version)bronze statuette, 2' 6½" H

5. From Democritus to Freud to Skinner Determinism

6. Determinism (AKA Causality) • Philosophy of cause and effect • Every event, act, decision occurs out of necessity and has at least one cause • Everything follows inevitably from the events that preceded it • Scientific way of seeing the world • The world is orderly and abides by natural laws • There is no randomness • Free will does not exist because our choices and actions are caused by antecedents

7. The Matrix and Determinism

8. Merovingian: You are here because you were sent here, you were told to come here and then you obeyed. [chuckles] It is of course the way of all things. You see, there is only one constant, one universal, it is the only real truth: causality. Action, reaction. Cause, effect. • Morpheus: Everything begins with choice. • Merovingian: No. Wrong. Choice is an illusion, created between those with power and those without…And this is the nature of the universe; we struggle against it, we fight to deny it, but it is of course pretend, it is a lie. Beneath our poised appearance, the truth is we are completely out of control. [inhales] Causality. There is no escaping it. We are forever slaves to it. Our only hope, our only peace is to understand it, to understand the why. Why is what separates us from them, you from me. Why is the only real source of power, without it you are powerless. And this is how you come to me: without why, without power, another link in the chain.

9. Leucippus (c. 460 BC-?) and Democritus (c. 460-370 BC) • Greek Atomists: everything is composed of atoms in motion • Atoms move along specified trajectories and adhere to natural laws/order • Leucippus: “Naught happens for nothing but everything from a ground of necessity.” • There is no chance, no randomness Democritus

10. Pavlov and Conditioning • Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) • Russian physiologist • Classical Conditioning: • a stimulus can evoke an automatic response by repetition

11. Pavlov’s Conditioning Experiment

13. B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) • Highly influenced by Pavlov’s work • Behaviorist and hard determinist • Believed that every action, decision is the result of conditioning • Freedom is a “mentalistic construct”

14. Skinner’s Theories • Life is a system of rewards and consequences • All behavior is shaped by positive/negative reinforcement • Shaping • Reinforcing behavior that approximates desired result • Slowly moving toward end goal • Bowling pigeons, teaching children to read or go down a slide

15. Skinner’s Theories, cont. • Behavior Modification • Eliminate undesirable behavior by removing reinforcement and replacing with desirable behavior and reinforcement • Animals/humans are basically machines that can be trained • All behaviors are learned; there is no free will

16. Critique of Skinner • Are you conditioned? • Driving? • Grades? • Dating? • What’s your assessment of Skinner’s viewpoint? • Do you agree?

17. Freud Review • Id=the instinctual animal self • desire driven • pleasure principal • part of the unconscious • Ego=the conscious self • thinking, rational • Superego=social conscience • morality • part of unconscious • Personality shaped during childhood Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), --pictured here in 1931

19. Freud’s Determinism • All of our choices, actions stem unconsciously from events that occurred in childhood • Ego is powerless • Id and superego in constant battle • 2-horse carriage analogy • Ego has no reins • We have no free will

20. Assessment of Freud • What do you make of Freud’s theories? • Do you think that everything we do today is a result of something that happened to us in childhood? • Are there some decisions/actions that have nothing to do with our childhood?

21. Critique of Freudian Determinism • Case study: Woman says, “every man I date abuses me” • Mother was hit by father • Mother=woman, father=man • Woman unconsciously chooses brutal men • Knowing this will help her to make better choices • Not all decisions stem from childhood • Moving a pawn in chess? Going to bed at 11 instead of 10?

22. Soft Determinism • Some freedom exists within the natural order of things • Stoicism • the philosophy of indifference to one’s surroundings • Noble perseverance • one cannot change one’s surroundings/fate • Stoics are fatalists • wanting what one gets; loving one’s fate • finding tranquility no matter what occurs • choice in attitude

23. Brueghel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (c. 1558)

24. Determinism and Free Will • There is no free will because our choices and actions are caused • Free will either does not exist (hard determinism) • Or exists in such a way as to be compatible with natural law/necessity (soft determinism)

25. The other side of the Free Will debate Existentialism

26. Existentialism Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980) • Primarily a 20th Century Philosophy • But rooted in 19th Century (Nietzsche, Kierkegaard) • Developed by philosophers Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre during and after WWII • Encapsulated in this statement by Sartre: I am nothing but my own conscious existence.

27. Existentialism Definition • The world is irrational, absurd and meaningless • There is no order in the universe • Society, science, philosophy, religion tries to create order in part by bestowing labels • Confronting this causes alienation, anxiety and guilt

28. Themes of Existentialism Existence precedes essence Free Will Anxiety and Anguish Absurdity Nothingness Alienation and Estrangement

29. Existence precedes essence Experience and existence is more important than the labels that society places on him/her Most people conform to an essence The waiter, the boyfriend

30. Free Will We are not determined by fate; we have choices To truly live, one must be willing to risk making choices Most people take the easy path of social conformity rather than risk making a choice

31. Anxiety and Anguish • Truly making a choice creates anxiety and tension in our lives. • “I am condemned to be free”--Sartre • Am I making the right choices for me? • Is there any meaning to my existence?

32. Continuum of Free Will Existentialism Determinism --Free will does exist --The world is absurd and meaningless --Free Will Does Not Exist --The universe is governed by causal laws out of our control

33. Slaughterhouse-Five and Free Will • What does Slaughterhouse-Five have to say about free will? • What examples can you find that comment on free will either explicitly or implicitly? • Does Billy make choices? • Does Vonnegut agree with the Tralfamadorians?

34. Determinism and Slaughterhouse-Five “…All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lead to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber.” “You sound to me like you don’t believe in free will,” said Billy Pilgrim. “…Only on Earth is there any talk of free will” (86). • The Tralfamadorian always pushes the button (which destroys the universe)

35. Slaughterhouse-Five, cont. • Serenity Prayer • God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference. • Dr. Rheinhold Niebuhr, a Christian theologian • Prayer printed on small cards and distributed to US troops by the USO