February 6, 2008

Holton on Determinism, Self-Efficacy, and the Phenomenology of Free Will.
By S. Matthew Liao

Professor Richard Holton (MIT) will be giving a talk on “Determinism, self-efficacy, and the phenomenology of free will,” this coming Monday, 11th February 2008, at the Oxford Moral Philosophy Seminar, and he has kindly offered to circulate his paper before the seminar.

Abstract:

Some recent studies have suggested that belief in determinism tends to undermine moral motivation: subjects who are given determinist texts to read become more likely to cheat or to go in for vindictive behaviour. One possible explanation is that people are natural incompatibilists, so that convincing them of determinism undermines their belief that they are morally responsible.

Read the full post here

Posted on February 6, 2008 at 4:11 pm in S. Matthew Liao's Posts, Oxford Moral Philosophy Seminar, Free Will | Leave a Comment