Libertarianism

• What is libertarianism?

  The view that all forms of determinism are false and in issues of right and wrong we act as free moral agents
• What do libertarians argue?

  We are free to move and act and therefore are morally responsible for our actions. We are not compelled to, and are morally responsible for our actions. Moral actions are not chance or random events, they result from the values and character of the moral agent.
• Libertarians are mind-body dualists

  Most libertarians have been mind body dualists who follow René Descartes, explained human freedom by a separate mind substance that somehow manages to act in the physical world. This makes us morally responsible for our actions
• What do religious libertarians say?

  God has given humans a gift of freedom, but at the same time that God's foreknowledge knows everything that man will do. This is called agent-causal libertarianism. The idea is that humans have a kind of external agency that cannot be explained in terms of physical events
• What does Epicurus say in response to scientific determinism?

  We are not determined by one long chain of events. The world is random and change occurs naturally because of freedom of movement within the universe. It is the will of a person that makes them act, and in acting they see the consequences of their action
• What is a moderate libertarianism?

  - they would not deny that the external world is deterministic

  - would also accept that deterministic processes affect living beings

  - would accept that the personality is to a large extent governed by heredity, social situation and environment

  - would accept that such influences incline us to act in certain ways rather than others

  - nevertheless, a libertarian insists that human behaviour is not determined by external causes

  
  

  All our experience of decision making and following moral principles; and even our sense of guilt when something goes wrong suggests that we are actually free; we can choose what to do and we must therefore take responsibility for our actions
• How are we limited?

  - Physical limitations: there are some things that we are physically incapable of doing

  - Psychological limitations: if we have a strong psychological motivation for one particular choice rather than another, this will have some bearing on what we choose, depending on the degree of motivation

  - Social limitations: we are limited by the financial, social and political structures under which we live
• What is the common sense argument?

  The opinion of ordinary people who make day-to-day decisions without doubting that they are freely made
• Libertarianism is forward looking

  Libertarians are primarily concerned with future goals because the future can be self-directed. Libertarianism argues for the existence of a moral self. The moral self is able to override the personality and the demands of society, and can make a causally undetermined choice of what should be done for the best in any particular moral situation
• Conclusion of libertarianism

  In conclusion, libertarianism carries a set of assumptions. They disagree about the deterministic laws. Libertarians argue that the only evidence possessed by determinists is that physical systems are governed by natural laws but there is no compelling reason to think the mind works that way