On Flew’s Compatibilism and His Objections to Theistic Libertarianism

Year 2015, , 115 - 142, 30.01.2016

Hakan Gündoğdu

https://doi.org/10.20981/kaygi.288146

Abstract

Flew strongly defends a compatibilist thesis in the free will debate before going on to totally object to theistic libertarianism. His objections basically rely on his compatibilism embracing the notion of agent causation, which is not very common in compatibilist theses. Since he is a strong proponent of ordinary language philosophy, he also holds that linguistic analyses can certainly solve the free will problem as well as many other problems of philosophy. In doing so, he first uses the paradigm cases based on our common sense experience and then assumes the verity of principle of alternative possibilities. This study attempts to show, on the one hand, that there are some serious difficulties in both his justification of compatibilism and his objections to theistic libertarianism, and on the other hand, that he cannot easily defend both at the same time.

Keywords

Antony Flew, Compatibilism, Free-Will, Agent, Causation, Theistic Libertarianism, Paradigm Case Argument, Principle of Alternative Possibility

References

• BROWN, Stuart. C, Collinson, Diane, & Wilkinson, Robert (1996) Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Philosophers, New York: Routledge.
• DANTO, Arthur C. (1959) “Paradigm Case Argument and The Free Will Problem”, Ethics, 69(2): 120-124.
• DAW, Russell and Alter, Torin (2001) “Free Acts and Robot Cats”, Philosophical Studies: International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition, 102(3): 345-357.
• DENNETT, Daniel C. (1984) Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• DENNETT, Daniel C. (2004) Freedom Evolves, New York: Penguin Books.
• DEPOE, John M. (2005) “Theism, Atheism, and the Metaphysics of Free Will”, Southwest Philosophical Studies, 27: 36-44.
• DILLEY, Frank B. (1990) “The Free-Will Defence and Worlds Without Moral Evil”, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 27(1/2):1-15.
• EKSTROM, Laura Waddel (2002) “Libertarianism and Frankfurt-style Cases”, The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, ed. Robert Kane, pp. 310-322, New York: Oxford University Press.
• ESHLEMAN, Andrew (1997) “Alternative Possibilities and the Free Will Defence”, Religious Studies, 33(3):267-286.
• FAZLI, Abdul H. (2005) “Iqbal’s View of Omniscience and Human Freedom”, Muslim World, 95(1): 125-145.
• FLEW, Antony (1955) “Divine Omnipotence and Human Freedom.” New Essays in Philosophical Theology ed. Antony Flew and Alasdair MacIntyre, 144-169. London: SCM Press.
• FLEW, Antony (1959) “Determinism and Rational Behaviour,” Mind New Series, 68(271): 377-382.
• FLEW, Antony (1960) “Philosophy and Language”, Essays in Conceptual Analysis, ed. A. Flew, second ed., New York: St. Martin's Press
• FLEW, Antony (1973) “Compatibilism, Free Will and God”, Philosophy, 48(185): 231-244.
• FLEW, Antony (1978) “A Rational Animal and Other Philosophical Essays on the Nature of Man, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• FLEW, Antony (1981) “Human Choice and Historical Inevitability”, Journal of Libertarian Studies, 5(4): 345-356.
• FLEW, Antony (1985a) Thinking About Social Thinking: The Philosophy of the Social Sciences, New York: Blackwell.
• FLEW, Antony (1985b) “Choice and Rationality”, Reason Papers, (10):49-60.
• FLEW, Antony (1987b) “Must Naturalism Discredit Naturalism?”, Evolutionary Epistemology, Rationality, and the Sociology of Knowledge, ed. Radnitzky, G., Bartley, W. W., & Popper, K. R.P, 401-421. La Salle [Ill]: Open Court.
• FLEW, Antony (1989a) An Introduction to Western Philosophy: Ideas and Argument from Plato to Popper, New York: Thames and Hudson.
• FLEW, Antony (1989b) “The Philosophy of Freedom”, Journal of Libertarian Studies, 9(1): 69-80.
• FLEW, Antony (1989c) “Morality and Determinism”, Philosophy, 64(247): 98-103.
• FLEW, Antony (1990) “Human Agency and Natural Necessity”, The Humanist, 50(6): 35-36.
• FLEW, Antony (1991) “Freedom and Human Nature”, Philosophy, 66(255): 53-63.
• FLEW, Antony (1993a) “The Case for Free Will: A Reply to Sean Gabb”, Free Life: A Journal of Classical Liberal and Libertarian Thought, (18): 9-13.
• FLEW, Antony (1993b) Atheistic Humanism, Buffalo: Prometheus Books.
• FLEW, Antony (1994a) “Anti-Social Determinism”, Philosophy, 69(267): 21-33.
• FLEW, Antony (1994b) “Legitimation of Factual Necessity”, Faith, Scepticism and Personal Identity: A Festschrift for Terence Penelhum, ed. John James MacIntosh, and Hugo A Meynell, p. 101-119. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
• FLEW, Antony (1997) Hume's Philosophy of Belief: A Study of His First Inquiry, UK: Thoemmes Press.
• FLEW, Antony (1998) How to Think Straight: An Introduction to Critical Reasoning, 2nd ed. Amherst, N.Y: Prometheus Books.
• FLEW, Antony and Vesey, G. N. A. (1987a) Agency and Necessity, New York: Blackwell.
• FRANKFURT, Harry G. (2003) “Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility”, Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities: Essays on the Importance of Alternative Possibilities, ed. Michael McKenna and David Widerker, p. 17-25. VT: Ashgate.
• FRANKFURT, Harry G. (1969) “Alternative Possibilities and Moral Responsibility”, Journal of Philosophy, (66): 829-39.
• FRANKFURT, Harry G. (1988) The Importance of What We Care About: Philosophical Essays, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• FRANKFURT, Harry G. (1971) “Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person”, The Journal of Philosophy, 68(1): 5-20.
• GOETZ, Stewart (2005) “Frankfurt-Style Counterexamples and Begging the Question”, Midwest Studies in Philosophy (29): 85-105.
• GOOCH, Paul W. (1994) “Sovereignty, Soft Determinism and Responsibility”, Sophia, 33(3): 89-100.
• HANFLING, Oswald (1991) “What is the Wrong With the Paradigm Case Argument?”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society New Series, (91): 21-38.
• HANFLING, Oswald (2000) Philosophy and Ordinary Language: The Bent and Genius of Our Tongue, New York: Routledge.
• HARRE, R. (1958) “Tautologies and the Paradigm-Case Argument”, Analysis, (18)4: 94-96.
• HASSAN, Riffat (1978) “Freedom of Will and Man’s Destiny in Iqbal’s Thought”, Islamic Studies, 17(4): 207-220.
• HELM, Paul (1997) Eternal God: A Study of God Without Time, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• KANE, Robert (2005) A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
• KATZOFF, Charlotte (2003) “The Selling of Joseph-A Frankfurtian Interpretation”, Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities: Essays on the Importance of Alternative Possibilities, ed. Michael McKenna and David Widerker, p. 327-338. VT: Ashgate.
• KONDOLEON, T. J. (1983) “More on the Free Will Defence”, Thomist, 47(1): 1-14
• LAMONT, Corliss (1967) Freedom of Choice Affirmed, New York: Horizon Press.
• LESTER, J. C. (2000) Escape from Leviathan: Liberty, Welfare, and Anarchy Reconciled, New York: St. Martin's Press.
• MARCONI, Diego (2009) “Being and Being Called: Paradigm Case Arguments and Natural Words”, Journal of Philosophy, 106(3): 113-136.
• MARKOSIAN, Ned (2012) “Agent Causation as the Solution to All the Compatibilist's Problems”, Philosophical Studies, 157(3): 383-398.
• PEREBOOM, Derk (2001) Living Without Free Will, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• PEREBOOM, Derk (2014) Free Will, Agency, and Meaning in Life, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• PETERSON, Michael L. (1998) God and Evil: An Introduction to the Issues, Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.
• PURTILL, Richard L. (1977) “Flew and the Free Will Defence”, Religious Studies, 13(4): 477-483.
• REICHENBACH, Bruce. R. (1982) Evil and a Good God, New York: Fordham University Press.
• ROBINSON, Peter (1995) “A Reply to Antony Flew's Discussion of `E.O. Wilson After 20 Years',” Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 25(2): 216-218.
• RYLE, Gilbert (1949) The Concept of Mind, London; New York: Hutchinson's University Library.
• SEARLE, John (1994) “The Freedom of the Will”, Philosophy: History and Problems, ed. Samuel Enoch Stumpf, p. 766-774. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• SMART, Ninian (1961) “Omnipotence, Evil and Superman”, Philosophy, (36): 137, 188-195.
• TALIAFERNO, Charles (2003) “Possibility of God: Coherence of Theism”, The Rationality of Theism, ed. Paul Copan and Paul K. Moser, p. 239-258. London; New York: Routledge.
• VAN INWAGEN, Peter (2002) An Essay on Free Will, New York: Clarendon Press.
• WATKINS, J.W.N. (1957) “Farewell to the Paradigm-Case Argument”, Analysis, 18(2): 25-33.
• WIDERKER, David (2003) “Blameworthiness and Frankfurt’s Argument Against the Principle of Alternative Possibilities”, Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities: Essays on the Importance of Alternative Possibilities, ed. Michael McKenna and David Widerker, p. 53-73. VT: Ashgate.
• YARDAN, John L. (2001) God and the Challenge of Evil: A Critical Examination of Some Serious Objections to the Good and Omnipotent God, Washington, D.C: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.