Dr. Julie A. Allen
allenj@yorku.ca

Office Location:   S445 Ross Building
Phone Number:  (416) 736-2100 Ext. 77541

This course examines the paradoxes concerning free will, free action, free choice and human responsibility.  These puzzles have attracted the attention of philosophers for thousands of years.  We will examine a series of essays by contemporary philosophers whose work elucidates some of the complexities surrounding free will.   The following questions will be central:  Did you really choose to take this course?  Are any of us free to choose between alternative courses of action?  Does genuine freedom require alternate possibilities?  Are our choices determined by causes outside of our control?  Can we be responsible for our actions if they are the effects of causes that existed before we were born?  What sort of “freedom” does moral responsibility require?  Is there any crucial difference between actions and events?  Are there any crucial differences between human action and the instinctive behavior of animals? Do human agents have a unique and special status in the world or universe?

SPECIFIC LECTURE TOPICS AND READING SCHEDULE WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON eClass.

Technical requirements for taking the course:

Times and locations:   

Here are some useful links for student computing information, resources and help:

Student Guide to Moodle

Zoom@YorkU Best Practices 

Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide

Computing for Students Website

Student Guide to eLearning at York University

To determine Internet connection and speed, there are online tests, such as Speedtest, that can be run.]

Virtual office hours  Weekly in-person office hours will be offered on Tuesdays. (TBA)

I will hold virtual office hours via Zoom.   You needn’t however appear on video, and the alternative of email is another way to have your questions answered:  allenj@yorku.ca.

Additionally, virtual one on one appointments with individual students can be made by contacting me at least 2 business days in advance.

Free Will, ed. Gary Watson, Oxford Readings in Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 2^nd edition, (2003) ISBN-9780199254941
or directly from Oxford University Press, ISBN-9780199254941

I highly recommend that you purchase the required text because in Philosophy, holding the book, highlighting or creating marginal notations as you read the material, more than once, is an important part of learning.

Tests (Online)                                  2 x 20%          =  40%

Summary Paragraph Assignment             =   8%

Short Paper (Critical Summary)                            = 15%

Final Position Paper                                    =  25%

Quizzes &Participation (**See Below)                  = 12%

SPECIFIC DATES & DEADLINES WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON eClass.

Each student is expected to read the assigned material. The class participation grade will in part reflect an assessment of engagement with the course materials.  This assessment will be based both upon literal "participation" at course meetings and upon specific short, participation assignments to be announced during the term.

TBA

Students will learn to tackle deep and puzzling questions regarding the metaphysics of human action and moral responsibility by reading both classical and contemporary works on the problem of Free Will and determinism.

Students will develop an appreciation of the historical persistence of the problem of free will by considering the issue both from a theological and a scientific perspective.

Students will learn to identify and distinguish the three classical positions on the problem of freedom and determinism by reading and analysing the works of authors who argue for one of the three and against the other two positions.

Students will be provided with the tools to develop their ability to analyse a text and provide a critical summary of central arguments

on the topics of hard determinism, predestination, soft determinism and libertarianism and the difference between these competing answers to the central problems regarding free will by completing three written assignments.

Students will learn to adopt and defend a position regarding the problem of freedom and determinism studied in the course by writing a final  position paper.

Students will further develop analytical and writing skills which will be useful tools in both academic and non academic contexts.

Course policies

1) students do not have permission to duplicate, copy and/or distribute course materials outside of the class (these acts can violate not only copyright laws but also FIPPA);

2)  Students are required to seek direct permission from me in order to record in whole are part, the lecture materials presented in class.  Once the course ends, all recordings must be destroyed.

3)  I do not tolerate cheating of any kind.  For details regarding the required standards of academic honesty, read, the:  STUDENT INFORMATION SHEET.