Determinism vs Free Will: Crash Course Philosophy #24

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

1. The classic question: Are we free?

The video contrasts two broad philosophical positions on whether human actions are genuinely free:

• Libertarian free will: humans can perform actions that are not fully determined by prior events.
• Hard determinism: every event (including human actions) is the inevitable result of prior causes.

2. Libertarian free will

Claim: Some human choices are genuinely free.

Key definition: Libertarians use the Principle of Alternate Possibilities: An action is free only if the agent could have done otherwise.

Reconciling freedom with cause-and-effect in the physical world

Libertarians distinguish between:

• Event causation: physical events are caused by prior physical events.
• Agent causation: agents (minds) can start causal chains in a way not caused by prior physical events.

Challenge to libertarian free will: the “origin” problem

If agent decisions launch “new” causal chains, philosophers ask:

• Where do those free decisions come from?
• Are they random?
• If not random, what determines which decision the agent makes?

Critique (as presented in the video): If an account exists for what causes the agent to choose, then the choice is effectively caused, undermining the claim that it is free.

3. A determinism example: Oedipus

A prophecy predicts Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother. Attempts to avoid the prophecy fail, and Oedipus fulfills it anyway.

Lesson for philosophy (as framed by the video): “There is no escaping fate,” often used to motivate determinist thinking.

4. Hard determinism

Claim: No actions are truly free; everything follows from an unbroken chain of events.

Named source: Baron d’Holbach.

Analogies for deterministic causation

Human actions are compared to natural causation examples, such as:

• home runs caused by bats hitting balls
• tornadoes caused by warm/cool air conditions

Reductionism and “no room for free will”

The mind’s processes are argued to be:

• reducible to brain states
• brain states are biological
• biological states are physical

Because the physical world is deterministic, the video argues there is “no room for free will.”

Explaining “felt choice”

People experience themselves as choosing freely, but determinists argue that this feeling arises from combinations of:

• beliefs
• desires
• temperament

For example, the speaker eats oatmeal because beliefs/desires/temperament make oatmeal the inevitable outcome.

Option elimination argument

Even if you can’t track every cause, determinists argue that deeper causes (worries, habits, lack of brand awareness, schedule, etc.) rule out alternatives.

Attempts to escape determinism

The video argues that common “escape routes” fail:

• Randomness doesn’t help: even “choosing to flip a coin” is still determined.
• Delegation doesn’t help: if someone else picks your breakfast, your acceptance of that outcome is still determined.

Determinism about emotions and behavior

Even reactions like anger or boredom, and choices like continuing to watch, are claimed to be determined by prior causes.

Implications

• Personal responsibility is undermined: if actions couldn’t be otherwise, the usual basis for responsibility (“could have done differently”) disappears.

• Humans are likened to “cogs in a machine” without real volition.

5. Video’s takeaway framing

The episode introduces:

• libertarian free will
• hard determinism

It suggests that next time the series will look for a middle ground between them.

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Methodology / instruction-like content (argument checks)

No step-by-step “procedure” is given for viewers, but the video repeatedly uses structured reasoning tests. The closest are these conceptual checks:

• To assess libertarian free will (Principle of Alternate Possibilities)

  • An action counts as free only if:
    • the agent could have chosen otherwise

• To critique libertarian free will (agent causation pressure test)

  • Ask:
    • Where do free decisions originate?
    • Are they random?
    • If not random, what determines which decision occurs?
  • Conclusion (as given in the video): if an explanation exists for what leads to the decision, then it becomes effectively causal/determined, not free.

• To assess hard determinism (causal explanation of behavior)

  • Explain choices by tracing outcomes to:
    • beliefs
    • desires
    • temperament
    • situational/psychological factors
  • Treat “decisions” as:
    • the inevitable result of those mental factors operating under deterministic laws.

• To address apparent escapes from determinism

  • Even if choices seem random (coin flips) or delegated (someone else selects), then:
    • the “random” selection and your acceptance are still caused/determined.

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Speakers / sources featured

• Narration / host: Unspecified in the subtitles (Crash Course Philosophy episode narrator/host)
• Referenced philosopher: Baron D’Holbach
• Referenced myth/legend: Oedipus
• Institution/production sources mentioned:
  • Crash Course Philosophy
  • Squarespace (sponsor)
  • PBS Digital Studios (production association)
  • Thought Cafe (graphics team)
• Filming studio mentioned: Doctor Cheryl C. Kinney Crash Course Studio (named location; no speaker identified)