Kane's argument for libertarianism

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
1

I have an extra credit oppertunity to participate in a discussion where I defend Kane’s argument for libertarianism…I want to say that I understand it completly but all that I can say and be 100% certain is that:

Obviously that he is a supporter of free-will
That free-will has to be something that we are morrally responsible for…

What I really want to know is how can I defend his views in a classroom discussion and what am I missing?
What premises can i use and what objections can I expect to face?..and what responses can I come up with for the strongest of of those objections?

2

If determinism is true, then we can’t be responsible, because the things we do aren’t within our control, you can’t be responsible for something if you’re not in some kind of control of it.

If free will is true, and we have the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong actions (morally speaking), then we either choose the good, and we’re moral people, or we choose the bad and we’re immoral.

Who is Kane?

3

By “Kane” I was reffering to the American philospher Robert Kane and I am trying to base my discussion on his views in “Free Will and Modern Science”

4

There’s only so much to the free will debate. What’s he saying about it in the book? You tell us what he says, and we’ll give you objections.

5

RH Kane’s arguments for Free Will are nifty, but I’m not familiar with his arguments with respect to libertarianism. Given his stance on FW, I’d just throw around some Nozick with existentialism (maybe Kirkegaard, but I wouldn’t go out on a limb with that one). If you put those in a blender, well, I’m not sure that they’d actually be what Kane meant with respect to libertarianism, but I’m sure you’d do fine on your assignment.

6

thanks…that actually makes some sense.