The Free Will Show

In this episode, we talk with Justin Capes about the principle of alternative possibilities and his version of the flicker of freedom response to Frankfurt cases. Justin's website: https://www.justincapes.com/ Justin's book, Moral Responsibility and the Flicker of Freedom : https://academic.oup.com/book/46725 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.c...

In this episode, we talk with Simone Gubler about forgiveness, its value, and some potential problems with institutional attempts to make forgiveness happen. Simone's website: https://simonegubler.com/ Simone's paper, "Recent Work in Forgiveness": https://academic.oup.com/analysis/article-abstract/82/4/738/6908773?redirectedFrom=fulltext Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewill...

In this episode, we talk with Stephen Morse about the nature of addiction and about the moral and criminal responsibility of people who suffer from addiction. Stephen's website: https://www.law.upenn.edu/faculty/smorse/ Stephen's book (edited with Adina Roskies), A Primer on Criminal Law and Neuroscience : https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-primer-on-criminal-law-and-neuroscience-...

In this episode, we talk with David Shoemaker about his theory of different kinds of moral responsibility and its implications for psychopathy and the law. David's website: https://sites.google.com/site/dshoemakr/home David's book, Responsibility from the Margins : https://global.oup.com/academic/product/responsibility-from-the-margins-9780198715672?lang=en&cc=us Twitter: https://twi...

In this episode, we talk with Gideon Yaffe about whether and to what extent children should be held less culpable for breaking the law. Gideon's website: https://law.yale.edu/gideon-yaffe Gideon's book, The Age of Culpability: Children and the Age of Criminal Responsibility : https://academic.oup.com/book/8349?login=false Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://ww...

In this episode, we talk with Saul Smilansky about overpunishment, focusing on the question of whether overpunishing a guilty person is morally worse than punishing an innocent person. We also briefly discuss Saul's work on free will and illusion. Saul's website: https://www.saulsmilansky.com/ Saul's book, Free Will and Illusion : https://global.oup.com/academic/product/free-will-an...

In this episode, we talk with Katrina Sifferd about the rehabilitation of criminal offenders and the effects that environments can have on criminal behavior and rehabilitation. Katrina's website: https://pleasandexcuses.net/ Katrina's paper, "Structural Injustice and Fair Opportunity": https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11572-023-09697-1 Twitter: https://twitter.com/the...

In this episode, we talk with Victor Tadros about moral authority (or standing) and punishment. In particular, we ask about what it would mean for the state to be complicit in the behavior of criminal offenders and how that complicity might affect its standing to punish.  Victor's website: https://vtadros367761169.wordpress.com/ Victor's book,  Criminal Responsibility : https://global.ou...

In this episode, we talk with Craig Agule about some of the philosophical issues related to mens rea requirements in the law and also about the connection between mens rea and free will. Craig's website: https://craigagule.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-10553503...

In this episode, we talk with Erin Kelly about the main theories of justification for punishment, as well as some challenges for those theories. We also ask her about her work on moving from retributive to restorative justice. Erin's website: https://erinikelly.com Erin's book, The Limits of Blame: Rethinking Punishment and Responsibility : https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=97...

This episode starts a new season on free will and the law. In a wide-ranging discussion, Kyle Fritz gives some background for various key issues at the intersection of free will and the law. Kyle's website: https://kylegfritz.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-10553...

In this episode, we talk with Robert Wallace about a dilemma for compatibilist views that reductively explain free will in terms of dispositions. Robert's website: https://www.roberthwallace.com/ Robert's paper, "A Dilemma for Reductive Compatibilism": https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10670-021-00475-w Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://ww...

In this episode we talk with Nadine Elzein about the public health model for responding to criminal behavior. We ask about reasons for preferring this model (including free will skepticism) as well as some common objections to treating crime like a public health issue. Nadine's website: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/people/summaries/elzein/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewills...

In this episode we talk with John Maier about what he calls 'options' and how they’re related in other issues in the philosophy of agency. John's website: https://www.jmaier.net John's book, Options and Agency : https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-10243-1 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebo...

In this episode, we talk with Susan Wolf about her view of free will, which she calls "The Reason View," and how her view has evolved over the years.   Susan's website: https://philosophy.unc.edu/people/susan-wolf/ Susan's book, Freedom within Reason : https://global.oup.com/academic/product/freedom-within-reason-9780195085655?cc=us&lang=en& Twitter: https://twitter.com...

In this episode, we talk with Justin Caouette about a variety of topics that he’s interested in in the free will debate as well as what is at stake in the debate itself. Justin's website: http://www.profjustincaouette.com/ Justin's co-edited volume, Free Will and Moral Responsibility : https://www.cambridgescholars.com/free-will-and-moral-responsibility-15 Twitter: https://twitter.com/th...

In this episode, we talk with Per-Erik Milam about blameworthiness and forgiveness. Along the way, we talk about two types of view about what forgiveness is. Per's website: http://www.pererikmilam.com/ Per's chapter discussed in the episode is called "Forgiveness," and it is in the Oxford Handbook of Moral Responsibility: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handb...

In this episode we talk with Megan Fritts about causal and non-causal theories of action explanation and why she prefers a non-causal approach. Megan's website: https://sites.google.com/view/meganjfritts/home Megan's paper, "Reasons Explanations as Structural Explanations": https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-021-03349-4 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow...

In this episode, we talk with Andrei Buckareff about a kind of soft-line response to the manipulation argument that draws from work within the philosophy of action. Andrei's website: https://sites.google.com/site/andreibuckareff/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefreewillshow/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Free-Will-Show-105535...

In this episode, we talk with Oisín Deery about his work on free will as a natural kind. Along the way, we talk about what it feels like to act freely, whether freedom is compatible with determinism, and whether artificial intelligences could have free will. Oisin's website: https://www.oisindeery.com/ Oisin's book, Naturally Free Action : https://global.oup.com/academic/product/naturall...

In this episode, we discuss a popular response to Frankfurt cases called the "flicker of freedom" strategy. Our guest is Bradford Stockdale. Brad's PhilPeople profile: https://philpeople.org/profiles/bradford-stockdale Brad's paper, "Moral Responsibility, Alternative Possibilities, and Acting on One's Own": https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10892-020-093...

In this episode, we talk with Greg Welty about what compatibilists about freedom and determinism could contribute to the debate about freedom and foreknowledge. Greg's website: http://www.gregwelty.com/ Greg's book,  Why Is There Evil in the World (And So Much Of It)? : https://www.christianfocus.com/products/2741/why-is-there-evil-in Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefreewillshow Instagra...

This is our second of two episodes on open theism. We talk with Patrick Todd about two versions of the view and why he prefers the open future open theist view. Patrick's website: http://www.patricktodd.co/ Patrick's book, The Open Future: Why Future Contingents Are All False : https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-open-future-9780192897916?cc=us&lang=en& Collection of essa...

This is our first of two episodes on open theism, the view that we have free will and that it is incompatible with divine foreknowledge. In this episode, we talk with William Hasker about reasons to be an open theist and some potential challenges. Bill's website: https://www.huntington.edu/meet-the-faculty/william-hasker Influential book on open theism, to which Bill is a contributor, The Ope...

In this episode, we talk with David Hunt about the source-libertarian response to the problem of freedom and foreknowledge, according to which, although causal determinism would rule out moral responsibility, alternative possibilities are not required. David's website: https://www.whittier.edu/academics/philosophy/david-hunt David's paper, "On Augustine's Way Out": https:/...