Skip to main content
Log in

Kane’s Libertarian Theory and Luck: A Reply to Griffith

  • Published:
Philosophia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In a recent article, Meghan Griffith (American Philosophical Quarterly 47:43–56, 2010) argues that agent-causal libertarian theories are immune to the problem of luck but that event-causal theories succumb to this problem. In making her case against the event-causal theories, she focuses on Robert Kane’s event-causal theory. I provide a brief account of the central elements of Kane’s theory and I explain Griffith’s critique of it. I argue that Griffith’s criticisms fail. In doing so, I note some important respects in which Kane’s view is unclear and I suggest a plausible way of reading Kane that makes his theory immune to Griffith’s objections.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen, R. (2005). Free will and indeterminism: Robert Kane’s libertarianism. Journal of Philosophical Research, 30, 341–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, R. (2002). Libertarian views: Critical survey of noncausal and event-causal accounts of free agency. In R. Kane (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of free will (pp. 356–385). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennett, D. (1984). I could not have done otherwise—so what? The Journal of Philosophy, 81, 553–567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffith, M. (2010). Why agent caused actions are not lucky. American Philosophical Quarterly, 47, 43–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haji, I. (1999). Indeterminism and Frankfurt type examples. Philosophical Explorations, 1, 42–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haji, I. (2005). Libertarianism, luck, and action explanation. Journal of Philosophical Research, 30, 321–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane, R. (1996). The significance of free will. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane, R. (1999). Responsibility, luck, and chance: reflections on free will and indeterminism. Journal of Philosophy, 96, 217–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane, R. (2002). Some neglected pathways in the free will labyrinth. In R. Kane (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of free will (pp. 406–437). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane, R. (2007). Libertarianism. In J. M. Fischer, R. Kane, D. Pereboom, & M. Vargas (Eds.), Four views on free will (pp. 5–43). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mele, A. (1999). Kane, luck, and the significance of free will. Philosophical Explorations, 2, 96–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mele, A. (2006). Free will and luck. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Strawson, G. (2000). The unhelpfulness of indeterminism. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 60, 149–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Inwagen, P. (2000). Free will remains a mystery. In J. E. Tomberlin (Ed.), Philosophical perspectives (vol. 14) (pp. 1–19). Boston: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waller, B. (1988). Free will gone out of control: a critical study of Kane’s. Free Will and Values Behaviorism, 16, 149–167.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John Lemos.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lemos, J. Kane’s Libertarian Theory and Luck: A Reply to Griffith. Philosophia 39, 357–367 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-010-9298-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-010-9298-x

Keywords

Navigation