The Free Will/Determinism Controversy: Its Implications for Moral Reasoning and Education

Dissertation, University of Missouri - Kansas City (1999)
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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to propose a theory of moral education based on a concept of moral freedom that is philosophically sound and educationally meaningful. This was achieved through a critical analysis of several major positions regarding the free will/determinism controversy. ;The free will problem is examined in terms of the trichotomy of nonreconciling determinism/reconciling determinism/libertarianism. and by the dichotomy of incompatibilism vs. compatibilism. This study defends reconciling determinism in the trichotomy and compatibilism in the dichotomy. The difference between free action and non-free action is not a matter of absence, or presence of cause because the opposite of free will is not "caused" but "compelled." Compulsion impairs one's ability to act according to one's own will or rationality. Determinism is compatible not only with free will but also with moral responsibility. Moral responsibility necessitates determinism. If there were not deterministic aspects of human beings at all, their actions would be unknowable and unpredictable. In moral actions, moral belief system can be a cause of action without being mechanical cause. For the integrity or consistency of thinking and acting in a moral way, it is important to form the power of self-control by a moral belief system. Mutual respect and moral responsibility are especially important in moral education. If one is responsible for another person, then the latter should also be responsible to the former. This symmetrical relationship is expressed as "if Rxy, then Ryx." ;This study is divided into seven chapters. Chapter I is an introduction detailing the purpose, problem, significance, scope, and format of the study. Chapter II is a review of the literature, and chapter III explores the relationship between free will, causation, determinism. A main objective of chapter IV is to analyze the controversy and its implications for moral responsibility. Free will within reason, and moral education for character integration is examined in chapter V and VI, respectively. In chapter VII, concluding thought is presented

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