Graduation Year
2019
Date of Submission
12-2018
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy
Second Department
Philosophy and Public Affairs
Reader 1
James Kreines
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
2018 Theodore G Kahn
OCLC Record Number
1089197399
Abstract
The questions of what kind of freedom morality requires and how to reconcile the capacity for free agency within a determined temporal sequence represent the crux of the free will debate. Traditional compatibilists claim that determinism does not preclude our capacity for moral agency. Nuanced determinists, such as Derk Pereboom, deny the existence of moral agency and argue that free will is not required to save the basic modes of our practical lives, such as our capacity to affect each other and to lead practically morallives. I will argue in favor of Kant’s view, which holds that since freedom and moral agency is metaphysically possible we cannot deny the possibility of free will and morality. The object of this thesis is to argue for why Kant’s position holds an advantage over determinism and compatibilism; it is not necessarily to argue for Kant’s argument, although I do explain and argue for aspects of it in support of my broader goal of establishing the superiority of Kant’s account.
Recommended Citation
Kahn, Theodore, "The Denial of Transcendental Freedom is Self-Refuting" (2019). CMC Senior Theses. 2066.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2066
