Did you know that free-will philosophers regularly conflate relations which are as different in kind and significance as spurious correlation and causation? Did you know that this has led philosophers (even in x-phi) to engage in fallacious cum hoc ergo propter hoc reasoning and sophistical motte-and-baileying? It has also led to widespread confusion about the logical structures and conclusions of the most famous arguments in the debate. For example, Galen Strawson's Basic Argument, Neil Levy's Luck-Pincer Argument, and my Master Manipulation Argument are all arguments against BOTH the "compatibilist" view that it is possible to act freely wh…
Did you know that free-will philosophers regularly conflate relations which are as different in kind and significance as spurious correlation and causation? Did you know that this has led philosophers (even in x-phi) to engage in fallacious cum hoc ergo propter hoc reasoning and sophistical motte-and-baileying? It has also led to widespread confusion about the logical structures and conclusions of the most famous arguments in the debate. For example, Galen Strawson's Basic Argument, Neil Levy's Luck-Pincer Argument, and my Master Manipulation Argument are all arguments against BOTH the "compatibilist" view that it is possible to act freely when determinism is true and the "incompatibilist" view that the causal/nomological factors described by determinism are antagonistic to (destroy, undermine, preclude, pose a threat to, etc.) free will.
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Would you like to know more about the philosophically important differences between such arguments and appreciate the range of positions in the contemporary free-will debate--while sidestepping empty disputes about the "right" way to define technical jargon? Me too -- so maybe you'll enjoy some of my recent publications!
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Here is one my first public discussions about these issues -- you can see that philosophers were generally surprised by the distinctions I was drawing and dubious of their philosophical value:
https://philosophyonline.typepad.com/flickers_of_freedom/featured-author-mickelson/
You can also check out my recent discussions of the problem of free will and determinism on YouTube:
The Free Will Show podcast (Taylor Cyr and Matt Flummer):
https://youtu.be/VMj4GZLnNrE
AARG Talk on rival paradigm approaches to the problem of determinism:
https://youtu.be/2uTlqySuxV4
If you have any questions or comments about my work, I'd love to hear them. You can reach me by gmail, user name "kristin.mickelson.42".