Determinism As Seen Through the Main Character and the Setting in Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Determinism As Seen Through the Main Character and the Setting in Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI DETERMINISM AS SEEN THROUGH THE MAIN CHARACTER AND THE SETTING IN SISTER CARRIE BY THEODORE DREISER AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By CLAUDIA NATALIA SUHIDRO Student Number: 134214096 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2017 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI DETERMINISM AS SEEN THROUGH THE MAIN CHARACTER AND THE SETTING IN SISTER CARRIE BY THEODORE DREISER AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By CLAUDIA NATALIA SUHIDRO Student Number: 134214096 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2017 ii PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis DETERMINISM AS SEEN THROUGH THE MAIN CHARACTER AND THE SETTING IN SISTER CARRIE BY THEODORE DREISER By CLAUDIA NATALIA SUHIDRO Student Number: 134214096 Approved by Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum June 4, 2017 Advisor Elisa [£t, SS., M.Hum. June 4, 2017 Co-Advisor III PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis DETERMINISM AS SEEN THROUGH THE MAIN CHARACTER AND THE SETTING IN SISTER CARRIE BY THEODORE DREISER By CLAUDIA NATALIA SUHIDRO Student Number: 134214096 Defended before the Board ofExaminers on July 21,2017 and Declared Acceptable BOARD OF EXAMINERS Name Chairperson : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum Secretary ,: Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. Member 1 : Tatang Iskama, S.S., M.Hum. Member 2 : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Bum Member 3 : Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. Dr. P. Ari Subagyo, M.Hum IV PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been previously submitted for the award ofany degree at any university, and that, to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no material previously written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text ofthe undergraduate thesis Yogyakarta, June 2, 2017 fj. Claudia Natalia Suhidro .. ' v PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma Nama Claudia Nataha Suhidro Nomor Mahasiswa 134214096 Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul DETERMINISM AS SEEN THROUGH THE MAIN CHARACTER AND THE SETTING IN SISTER CARRIE BY THEODORE DREISER Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dham1a hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan, dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya elalam bentuk pangkalan elata, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, elan mempublikasikannya eli intemet atau meelia lain untuk kepentingan akaelemis tanpa perlu meminta ijin kepaela saya maupun memberikan royalty kepaela saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pemyataan ini saya buat elengan sebenamya. Dibuat eli Yogyakatia Paelatanggal2Juni2017 Yang menyatakan, H Claudia atalia Suhidro VI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI This Undergraduate thesis is dedicated to: The Lord Jesus Christ, My Beloved Family, And Everyone I love… vii PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my Lord, Jesus Christ for His unconditional blessing in my life. I am so thankful that He never failed me at anything. I know that He always accompanies and guides me in every situation so that I can finish this thesis. Also, I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. for giving me a lot of guidance, advices, suggestions, and patience to help me to finish this thesis. I also like to thank my co-advisor, Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. for giving me her patience and her time to read and also correct this undergraduate thesis to make it better. I dedicate this thesis for my beloved parents, my dearest sister and brother, and my beloved grandma. I thank them for always praying for me, giving me supports, endless love, and a great care even though I often make them disappointed. Without their continuous supports, I would have never been able to finish this thesis. I really grateful to have them in my life. Thank you for being my family. My gratitude is also given to my special one, B.Giordano, for loving me genuinely, supporting me and encouraging me to finish this thesis. Thank you for always being there for me, thank you for your patience, thank you for accepting me in all ways. Words can’t describe how lucky am I to have you in my life. viii PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI I also want to thank my second family, komsel Victory, who is also my spiritual family. Thank you for always praying for me, helping me in difficulties in life, encouraging me when I almost give up in my thesis. I’m so happy in the right community which I can call them as family. Thank you so much for everything. Last but not least, I give thanks to all my friends who filling my days with laughter and happiness. They are especially from Bergelantungan group, Bu Bagyo Family, Manis Manja group, and Sanquidlaudya group. Thank you for our unforgettable memories together and thank you for our togetherness. I hope our friendship will last long. I love you all. Claudia Natalia Suhidro ix PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE……………………………………………………………........ ii APPROVAL PAGE………………………………………………………...... iii ACCEPTANCE PAGE…………………………………………………........ iv LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH.. v STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY……………………………………….... vi DEDICATION PAGE……………………………………………………...... vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………….... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………. x ABSTRACT………………………………………………………….............. xi ABSTRAK…………………………………………………………….………. xii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………. 1 A. Background of the Study…………………………………………….. 1 B. Problem Formulation……………………………………………….... 5 C. Objectives of the Study………………………………………………. 5 D. Definition of the Terms……………………………………………… 6 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE………………………………. 9 A. Review of Related Studies…………………………………………… 9 B. Review of Related Theories…………………………………………. 13 1. Theories on Character and Characterization…………….......... 13 2. Theories on Naturalism………………………………….......... 14 3. Theories on Determinism………………………………........... 17 4. Theories on Setting…………………………………………… 18 C. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………... 19 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……………………………………… 20 A. Object of the Study…………………………………………………. 20 B. Approach of the Study……………………………………………… 21 C. Method of the Study………………………………………………... 21 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS……………………………………………… 23 A. The Main Character Described in the Story……………………….. 23 B. The Idea of Determinism in Carrie’s Character……………………. 35 1. Internal Forces……………………………………………….. 35 2. External Forces………………………………………………. 39 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …………………………………………. 44 BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………... 48 x PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI ABSTRACT Claudia Natalia. Determinism as Seen through the Main Character and the Setting in Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2017. Sister Carrie is the first work of Theodore Dreiser. Sister Carrie is a novel about the main character, Carrie Meeber, who comes from small town Wisconsin. In order to get a better life and pursue her happiness, she decides to move to big city, in Chicago. The cruelty of social environment in modern American society influences Carrie’s understanding of happiness. At the end, she’s trapped by her endless desires for luxurious material and wealth. There are two objectives related to the study. The first objectives is to find out how is the main character, Sister Carrie, is described in the story. The second objective is how the main character, Sister Carrie, reveals the idea of determinism. In answering the problems, theory of determinism is needed. Determinism is all events in the universe are determined by the conditions that produced them. It is related the philosophy of certainty and every events can be the result of causes that determine them. The writer applied moral-philosophical approach to analyze the study. This approach is used to investigate the philosophical issues in the novel since the focus on the study is to analyze the idea of determinism through the main character. The result of the study shows that Sister Carrie has several characteristic which are described through the story. Those characteristics are inexperienced, timid, unconscious, desireful, insecure, dependent, materialistic, easily tempted, and gloomy. The idea of determinism can be seen through the main character is internal forces (hereditary, instinct, and passion) and external forces (society, environment, and chance). xi PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI ABSTRAK Claudia Natalia. Determinism as Seen through the Main Character and the Setting in Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2017. Sister Carrie adalah karya pertama Theodore Dresier. Sister Carrie adalah novel tentang karakter utama, Carrie Meeber, yang berasal dari kota kecil di Wisconsin. Untuk mendapatkan kehidupan
Recommended publications
  • At Least in Biophysical Novelties Amihud Gilead
    The Twilight of Determinism: At Least in Biophysical Novelties Amihud Gilead Department of Philosophy, Eshkol Tower, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838 Email: [email protected] Abstract. In the 1990s, Richard Lewontin referred to what appeared to be the twilight of determinism in biology. He pointed out that DNA determines only a little part of life phenomena, which are very complex. In fact, organisms determine the environment and vice versa in a nonlinear way. Very recently, biophysicists, Shimon Marom and Erez Braun, have demonstrated that controlled biophysical systems have shown a relative autonomy and flexibility in response which could not be predicted. Within the boundaries of some restraints, most of them genetic, this freedom from determinism is well maintained. Marom and Braun have challenged not only biophysical determinism but also reverse-engineering, naive reductionism, mechanism, and systems biology. Metaphysically possibly, anything actual is contingent.1 Of course, such a possibility is entirely excluded in Spinoza’s philosophy as well as in many philosophical views at present. Kant believed that anything phenomenal, namely, anything that is experimental or empirical, is inescapably subject to space, time, and categories (such as causality) which entail the undeniable validity of determinism. Both Kant and Laplace assumed that modern science, such as Newton’s physics, must rely upon such a deterministic view. According to Kant, free will is possible not in the phenomenal world, the empirical world in which we 1 This is an assumption of a full-blown metaphysics—panenmentalism—whose author is Amihud Gilead. See Gilead 1999, 2003, 2009 and 2011, including literary, psychological, and natural applications and examples —especially in chemistry —in Gilead 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014a–c, and 2015a–d.
    [Show full text]
  • Causality and Determinism: Tension, Or Outright Conflict?
    1 Causality and Determinism: Tension, or Outright Conflict? Carl Hoefer ICREA and Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona Draft October 2004 Abstract: In the philosophical tradition, the notions of determinism and causality are strongly linked: it is assumed that in a world of deterministic laws, causality may be said to reign supreme; and in any world where the causality is strong enough, determinism must hold. I will show that these alleged linkages are based on mistakes, and in fact get things almost completely wrong. In a deterministic world that is anything like ours, there is no room for genuine causation. Though there may be stable enough macro-level regularities to serve the purposes of human agents, the sense of “causality” that can be maintained is one that will at best satisfy Humeans and pragmatists, not causal fundamentalists. Introduction. There has been a strong tendency in the philosophical literature to conflate determinism and causality, or at the very least, to see the former as a particularly strong form of the latter. The tendency persists even today. When the editors of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy asked me to write the entry on determinism, I found that the title was to be “Causal determinism”.1 I therefore felt obliged to point out in the opening paragraph that determinism actually has little or nothing to do with causation; for the philosophical tradition has it all wrong. What I hope to show in this paper is that, in fact, in a complex world such as the one we inhabit, determinism and genuine causality are probably incompatible with each other.
    [Show full text]
  • SPINOZA's ETHICS: FREEDOM and DETERMINISM by Alfredo Lucero
    SPINOZA’S ETHICS: FREEDOM AND DETERMINISM by Alfredo Lucero-Montaño 1. What remains alive of a philosopher's thought are the realities that concern him, the problems that he addresses, as well as the questions that he poses. The breath and depth of a philosopher's thought is what continues to excite and incite today. However, his answers are limited to his time and circumstances, and these are subject to the historical evolution of thought, yet his principal commitments are based on the problems and questions with which he is concerned. And this is what resounds of a philosopher's thought, which we can theoretically and practically adopt and adapt. Spinoza is immersed in a time of reforms, and he is a revolutionary and a reformer himself. The reforming trend in modern philosophy is expressed in an eminent way by Descartes' philosophy. Descartes, the great restorer of science and metaphysics, had left unfinished the task of a new foundation of ethics. Spinoza was thus faced with this enterprise. But he couldn't carry it out without the conviction of the importance of the ethical problems or that ethics is involved in a fundamental aspect of existence: the moral destiny of man. Spinoza's Ethics[1] is based on a theory of man or, more precisely, on an ontology of man. Ethics is, for him, ontology. He does not approach the problems of morality — the nature of good and evil, why and wherefore of human life — if it is not on the basis of a conception of man's being-in-itself, to wit, that the moral existence of man can only be explained by its own condition.
    [Show full text]
  • Consequences of Pragmatism University of Minnesota Press, 1982
    estratto dal volume: RICHARD RORTY Consequences of Pragmatism University of Minnesota Press, 1982 INTRODUCTION 1. Platonists, Positivists, and Pragmatists The essays in this book are attempts to draw consequences from a prag- matist theory about truth. This theory says that truth is not the sort of thing one should expect to have a philosophically interesting theory about. For pragmatists, “truth” is just the name of a property which all true statements share. It is what is common to “Bacon did not write Shakespeare,” “It rained yesterday,” “E equals mc²” “Love is better than hate,” “The Alle- gory of Painting was Vermeer’s best work,” “2 plus 2 is 4,” and “There are nondenumerable infinities.” Pragmatists doubt that there is much to be said about this common feature. They doubt this for the same reason they doubt that there is much to be said about the common feature shared by such morally praiseworthy actions as Susan leaving her husband, Ameri- ca joining the war against the Nazis, America pulling out of Vietnam, Socrates not escaping from jail, Roger picking up litter from the trail, and the suicide of the Jews at Masada. They see certain acts as good ones to perform, under the circumstances, but doubt that there is anything gen- eral and useful to say about what makes them all good. The assertion of a given sentence—or the adoption of a disposition to assert the sentence, the conscious acquisition of a belief—is a justifiable, praiseworthy act in certain circumstances. But, a fortiori, it is not likely that there is something general and useful to be said about what makes All such actions good-about the common feature of all the sentences which one should ac- quire a disposition to assert.
    [Show full text]
  • A Rationalist Argument for Libertarian Free Will
    A rationalist argument for libertarian free will Stylianos Panagiotou PhD University of York Philosophy August 2020 Abstract In this thesis, I give an a priori argument in defense of libertarian free will. I conclude that given certain presuppositions, the ability to do otherwise is a necessary requirement for substantive rationality; the ability to think and act in light of reasons. ‘Transcendental’ arguments to the effect that determinism is inconsistent with rationality are predominantly forwarded in a Kantian manner. Their incorporation into the framework of critical philosophy renders the ontological status of their claims problematic; rather than being claims about how the world really is, they end up being claims about how the mind must conceive of it. To make their ontological status more secure, I provide a rationalist framework that turns them from claims about how the mind must view the world into claims about the ontology of rational agents. In the first chapter, I make some preliminary remarks about reason, reasons and rationality and argue that an agent’s access to alternative possibilities is a necessary condition for being under the scope of normative reasons. In the second chapter, I motivate rationalism about a priori justification. In the third chapter, I present the rationalist argument for libertarian free will and defend it against objections. Several objections rest on a compatibilist understanding of an agent’s abilities. To undercut them, I devote the fourth chapter, in which I give a new argument for incompatibilism between free will and determinism, which I call the situatedness argument for incompatibilism. If the presuppositions of the thesis are granted and the situatedness argument works, then we may be justified in thinking that to the extent that we are substantively rational, we are free in the libertarian sense.
    [Show full text]
  • Levitt Sample.Qxd
    CHAPTER 1 Psychological Research The Whys and Hows of the Scientific Method CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AS YOU READ CHAPTER 1 • Why do psychologists use the scientific method? • How do psychologists use the scientific method? • What are the canons of the scientific method? • What is the difference between basic and applied research? • How do basic and applied research interact to increase our knowledge about behavior? As an instructor of an introductory psychology course for psychology majors, I ask my first-semester freshman students the question “What is a psychologist?” At the beginning of the semester, students typically say that a psychologist listens to other people’s problems to help them live happier lives. By the end of the semester and their first college course in psychology, these same students will respond that a psychologist studies behavior through research. These students have learned that psychology is a science that investigates behav - ior, mental processes, and their causes. That is what this book is about: how psychologists use the scientific method to observe and understand behavior and mental processes. The goal of this text is to give you a step-by-step approach to designing research in psy - chology, from the purpose of research (discussed in this chapter) and the types of questions psychologists ask about behavior, to the methods psychologists use to observe and under - stand behavior and describe their findings to others in the field. WHY PSYCHOLOGISTS CONDUCT RESEARCH Think about how you know the things you know. How do you know the earth is round? How do you know it is September? How do you know that there is a poverty crisis in some parts of Africa? There are probably many ways that you know these things.
    [Show full text]
  • Criminal Responsibility and Causal Determinism J
    Washington University Jurisprudence Review Volume 9 | Issue 1 2016 Criminal Responsibility and Causal Determinism J. G. Moore Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_jurisprudence Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Jurisprudence Commons, Legal History Commons, Legal Theory Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Rule of Law Commons This document is a corrected version of the article originally published in print. To access the original version, follow the link in the Recommended Citation then download the file listed under “Previous Versions." Recommended Citation J. G. Moore, Criminal Responsibility and Causal Determinism, 9 Wash. U. Jur. Rev. 043 (2016, corrected 2016). Available at: http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_jurisprudence/vol9/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington University Jurisprudence Review by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Criminal Responsibility and Causal Determinism Cover Page Footnote This document is a corrected version of the article originally published in print. To access the original version, follow the link in the Recommended Citation then download the file listed under “Previous Versions." This article is available in Washington University Jurisprudence Review: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_jurisprudence/vol9/ iss1/6 CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY AND CAUSAL DETERMINISM: CORRECTED VERSION J G MOORE* INTRODUCTION In analytical jurisprudence, determinism has long been seen as a threat to free will, and free will has been considered necessary for criminal responsibility.1 Accordingly, Oliver Wendell Holmes held that if an offender were hereditarily or environmentally determined to offend, then her free will would be reduced, and her responsibility for criminal acts would be correspondingly diminished.2 In this respect, Holmes followed his father, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Universal Determinism and Relative Dertermination
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies Nebraska Academy of Sciences 1983 Universal Determinism and Relative Dertermination Leroy N. Meyer University of South Dakota Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tnas Part of the Life Sciences Commons Meyer, Leroy N., "Universal Determinism and Relative Dertermination" (1983). Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies. 252. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tnas/252 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Nebraska Academy of Sciences at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societiesy b an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 1983. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences. XI:93-98. PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE UNIVERSAL DETERMINISM AND RELATIVE DETERMINATION Leroy N. Meyer Department of Philosophy University of South Dakota Vermillion, South Dakota 57069 Recent works have shown that it is possible to devise a clear have been developed. There is of course a variety of versions thesis of universal determinism. Two such theses are formulated. Ap­ of determinism, but of primary concern here is one general parently the motivations for universal determinism have been: (I) to kind of physical determinism, which may be called universal account for the explanatory power of scientific laws, (2) to support the principle of sufficient reason, and (3) to provide a methodological determinism, though remarks extend to some other kinds of criterion for scientific progress. Universal determinism is, however, deterministic theses as well.
    [Show full text]
  • Mcteague| a Study in Determinism, Romanticism, and Fascism
    University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1959 McTeague| A study in determinism, romanticism, and fascism Leonard Anthony Lardy The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Lardy, Leonard Anthony, "McTeague| A study in determinism, romanticism, and fascism" (1959). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 2944. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/2944 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976 THIS IS AN UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT IN WHICH COPYRIGHT SUB­ SISTS, ANY FURTHER REPRINTING OF ITS CONTENTS MUST BE APPROVED BY THE AUTHOR, IV1ANSFIELD LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA DATE: (0 McTeague: A Study in Determinism, Romanticism, and Fascism ty Leonard A. lardy B.S. North Dakota State Teachers College, 19$$ Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY 1959 Approved ty Dean, Graduate School MB 17 1S59 Date UMI Number: EP34054 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent on the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted.
    [Show full text]
  • A Pragmatic and Empirical Approach to Free Will Andrea Lavazza(Α)
    RIVISTA INTERNAZIONALE DI FILOSOFIA E PSICOLOGIA ISSN 2039-4667; E-ISSN 2239-2629 DOI: 10.4453/rifp.2017.0020 Vol. 8 (2017), n. 3, pp. 247-258 STUDI A Pragmatic and Empirical Approach to Free Will Andrea Lavazza(α) Ricevuto: 10 febbraio 2017; accettato: 24 agosto 2017 █ Abstract The long dispute between incompatibilists (namely, the advocates of the contemporary ver- sion of the illusory nature of freedom) and compatibilists is further exemplified in the discussion between Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett. In this article, I try to add to the discussion by outlining a concept of free will linked to five operating conditions and put forward a proposal for its operationalization and quantifi- cation. The idea is to empirically and pragmatically define free will as needed for moral blame and legal liability, while separating this from the debate on global determinism, local determinism, automatisms and priming phenomena on a psychological level. This is made possible by weakening the claims of de- terminisms and psychological automatisms, based on the latest research, and by giving a well-outlined definition of free will as I want to defend it. KEYWORDS: Compatibilism; Daniel Dennett; Free Will Quantification; Global Determinism; Local De- terminism █ Riassunto Un approccio pragmatico ed empirico al libero arbitrio – La lunga disputa tra incompatibilisti (va- le a dire i sostenitori della versione contemporanea dell’illusorietà del libero arbitrio) e compatibilisti trova un’esemplificazione nel dibattito tra Sam Harris e Daniel Dennett. In questo articolo cerco di contribuire alla discussione delineando un concetto di libero arbitrio legato a cinque condizioni operative e proponendo la sua operazionalizzazione e quantificazione.
    [Show full text]
  • Hume on the Nature of Moral Freedom
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Philosophy Theses Department of Philosophy Summer 7-11-2012 Hume on the Nature of Moral Freedom Getty L. Lustila Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/philosophy_theses Recommended Citation Lustila, Getty L., "Hume on the Nature of Moral Freedom." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2012. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/philosophy_theses/118 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Philosophy at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HUME ON THE NATURE OF MORAL FREEDOM by GETTY L. LUSTILA Under the Direction of Eric E. Wilson ABSTRACT Paul Russell argues that the interpretation of Hume as a classical compatibilist is misguided. Russell defends a naturalistic reading of Humean freedom and moral responsibility. On this account, Hume holds two theses: that moral responsibility is a product of our moral sentiments, and that our concept of moral freedom is derived from our considerations of moral responsibility. Russell claims that Hume’s theory of the passions is non-cognitivist, and thus that his account of moral judgment fails to distinguish between voluntary and involuntary actions or qualities of mind. He concludes that Hume’s account of moral responsibility is inadequate. I argue that Hume has a cognitivist account of the passions. For Hume, our character is judged to be a proper object of praise or censure on account of our ability to partake in a moral community with our fellows.
    [Show full text]
  • Determinism and Divine Blame
    Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers Volume 34 Issue 4 Article 3 10-1-2017 Determinism and Divine Blame John Ross Churchill Follow this and additional works at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/faithandphilosophy Recommended Citation Churchill, John Ross (2017) "Determinism and Divine Blame," Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers: Vol. 34 : Iss. 4 , Article 3. DOI: 10.5840/faithphil201711691 Available at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/faithandphilosophy/vol34/iss4/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers by an authorized editor of ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. DETERMINISM AND DIVINE BLAME John Ross Churchill Theological determinism is, at first glance, difficult to square with the typi- cal Christian commitment to the appropriateness of divine blame. How, we may wonder, can it be appropriate for God to blame someone for something that was determined to occur by God in the first place? In this paper, I try to clarify this challenge to Christian theological determinism, arguing that its most cogent version includes specific commitments about what is involved when God blames wrongdoers. I then argue that these commitments are not essential to divine blame, and that there are plausible alternative accounts of such blame that would not court similar challenges. I end with a case for the intelligibility of divine blame within theological determinism, in light of its possible similarity in relevant respects to certain instances of intelligible human blame.
    [Show full text]