Libertarianism (philosophy of mind)

Libertarianism or libertarianism (from English libertarianism , to Latin libertas " freedom ") describes in the philosophy of the mind a position on free will that affirms it and rejects determinism , which it regards as incompatible with free will. The key points of libertarian approaches are the acceptance of alternative courses of action under given circumstances ("being different") and the idea of ​​ultimate responsibility, i.e. that is, it is “up to us” how we decide in a given situation.

Important contemporary representatives are Roderick Chisholm , Robert Kane and Peter van Inwagen , and Geert Keil in German-speaking countries . Immanuel Kant's conception of freedom (the “ability [...] to start a series of events by oneself”) can also be classified under libertarianism, although in contrast to this he does not reject determinism.

Concept history

The English term "Libertarian" has existed since the 18th century, the OED mentions William Belsham's "Essays" (1789) as the earliest use , he differentiates between "the libertarian who says that the mind chooses the motives and the necessarian who assures that the motives determine the mind ”.

literature

• Geert Keil: Free Will and Determinism . Reclam-Verlag, Stuttgart 2009. ISBN 978-3150203293
• Geert Keil: Free will . De Gruyter, Berlin 2013 (2nd edition). ISBN 978-3-11-027947-4
• Randolph Clarke : Libertarian Accounts of Free Will . Oxford University Press, New York 2003. ISBN 0-19-515987-X
• Robert Kane: The Significance of Free Will . Oxford University Press 1998, ISBN 0-19-512656-4
• Peter van Inwagen: An Essay on Free Will . Oxford University Press 1983, ISBN 978-0198249245

Web links

Wiktionary: Libertarianism  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Randolph Clarke: Incompatibilist (Nondeterministic) Theories of Free Will (entry in SEP )
• Robert Kane: Reflections on Free Will, Determinism And Indeterminism on Ted Honderich's "Determinism and Freedom Philosophy Website"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Elmar Waibl, Philip Herdina: Dictionary of Philosophical Terms . KG Saur, 1997, ISBN 978-3-598-11344-4 (entry "libertarianism").
2. ↑ Keil 2009, p. 10
3. ↑ Free Will. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy , accessed December 3, 2011 . 
4. ^ Robert Kane: A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will . OUP, 2005, ISBN 978-0-19-514970-8 .
5. ^ Ansgar Beckermann : Robert Kane. Retrieved June 10, 2012 . 
6. ↑ Ernst Tugendhat : Anthropology instead of metaphysics . Beck, 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-59797-8 ( Google Books - pp. 65f.).
7. ^ Richard Feldman , Fred Feldman : Roderick Chisholm - Agency and the Free Will Problem. SEP, accessed October 1, 2012 . 
8. ↑ Jürgen Mittelstraß (Ed.): Encyclopedia Philosophy and Philosophy of Science . 2nd Edition. Metzler, Stuttgart 2010 (entry “Libertarianism”).
9. ↑ Ansgar Beckermann : Freedom of will: Immanuel Kant. Philosophy understandable, accessed on July 2, 2012 . 
10. ↑ Entry "libertarian" in the OED (2nd edition)
11. ^ William Belsham: Essays Philosophical and Moral, Historical and Literary . tape 1 . GG and J. Robinson, London 1789 (p. 12: "[...] the Libertarian, who says that the mind chuses [sic!] The motive, and the Necessarian, who asserts, that the motive determines the mind [. ..] ").