praise or blame this man, for, since his actions are not
regularly connected with his motives, reinforcing or
inhibiting certain motives will have no effect. More-
over, a man is held responsible for those acts that
reflect his character rather than his casual or unpre-
meditated acts. The latter two, unlike the former, do
not give us insight into the enduring personality and
character traits that form the basis of judgments of
responsibility. Hence, responsibility requires a regular
connection between character and action that leaves
no room for the liberty of indifference.
The freedom we do have is the power to act or not
to act, depending upon our decision. As Hobbes and
Spinoza had pointed out, all human beings possess this
power whenever no external impediments stand in
their way or whenever they are not being constrained
to act in a certain way by an external force. Later
reconciliationists will add certain internal constraints,
e.g., psychological compulsions like kleptomania, to
the list of impediments to liberty.
Finally, freedom is compatible with determinism
because a free act is determined by a decision that
is itself determined by the operative motives. A free
agent, in other words, is one whose acts are caused
by his own volitions rather than external sources. Rec-
onciliationism has been and continues to be a subject
of heated philosophical debates.
The approach of Immanuel Kant to the free will-
determinism problem has reconciliationist aspects in
that he wishes to deny neither. Determinism or the
view that all events are caused certainly holds in the
empirical world, including the psychological domain
of inner experience. Like many of his predecessors,
Kant was not disturbed by the fact that determinism
precludes the liberty of indifference, for the latter
notion is not genuine freedom. Freedom does involve
the absence of external constraints. Hence, if man's will
is free, it is neither subject to external constraints nor
are its decisions determined by chance, i.e., by nothing
real. Freedom, therefore, must be self-determination,
i.e., determination of the will by its own laws. These
laws are not natural laws, i.e., laws governing experi-
enced events, for such external determination is in-
compatible with freedom. Experience tells us that
man's decisions are often governed solely by his desires
and inclinations, and, on that level, he is not free.
Hence, Kant does not agree with those recon-
ciliationists who say that freedom is ordinary determi-
nation by desires. Freedom, therefore, must be a special
type of causality or determination.
As stated above, experience tells us that human
beings are subject to determination by natural law. But
this conclusion is formed from the vantage point of
judging human beings as empirical occurrences in time
or, in Kant's language, as phenomena. Human beings
as noumena, i.e., as things-in-themselves, are outside
time and, hence, free from ordinary determination by
events. Although we do not know human beings as
noumena, they must be noumena to be free. Man as
phenomenon is determined; man as noumenon is free.
Although we cannot be conscious of freedom, we
can be conscious of the moral law and the moral law
implies freedom. Since experience tells us only what
is the case, not what must always be or ought always
to be the case, moral laws must originate in man's
âpure practical reason,â i.e., his reason as transcending
empirical inclinations. Hence a rational being who
acknowledges the moral law must acknowledge that
his will is being determined by his practical reason and
this is freedom. A moral agent must, therefore, con-
ceive of himself as free. Man, however, is both rational
and natural, and he, therefore, has natural inclinations
that may conflict with the dictates of reason. His expe-
rience of morality, therefore, is an experience of obli-
gation to the moral law within his deeper ânoumenalâ
self.
Freedom, in fact, is the essence of morality. For if
freedom is determination of the will by the laws of
its own reason, then freedom is autonomy, legislation
by the self for the self. And one of Kant's formulations
of the moral law is: act according to the principle that
rational beings are lawgivers to themselves, i.e., as
autonomous. If human beings do not create the laws
they obey, they might be bound to them by an interest
(e.g., God's laws might be obeyed in order to go to
heaven), in which case morality would not be truly
unconditional and necessary.
Many philosophers have rejected as unintelligible
Kant's attempt to preserve both freedom and deter-
minism. Since the rational determination of the will
of man qua noumenon is always in accordance with
morality, it is not clear why men act immorally. Pre-
sumably, they act immorally because they are deter-
mined to do so by their desires and inclinations. But
then only moral acts are free and people ought never
to be blamed, therefore, for their immoral acts. Also,
since every human act is part of the empirical world,
it is determined. Hence, all free acts are determined.
Now, how can man qua noumenon freely determine
the will to perform a specific act that it is necessitated
by antecedent conditions to perform?
Nineteenth-century idealists tended to be libertarians
on the free-will question, and F. H. Bradley is a good
example. (A libertarian identifies man's freedom with
his ability to interpose himself into the causal order
by directly causing a decision or act. The decision or
act is not caused by some state of or occurrence within
the self, e.g., a desire or belief, but by the self directly.
regularly connected with his motives, reinforcing or
inhibiting certain motives will have no effect. More-
over, a man is held responsible for those acts that
reflect his character rather than his casual or unpre-
meditated acts. The latter two, unlike the former, do
not give us insight into the enduring personality and
character traits that form the basis of judgments of
responsibility. Hence, responsibility requires a regular
connection between character and action that leaves
no room for the liberty of indifference.
The freedom we do have is the power to act or not
to act, depending upon our decision. As Hobbes and
Spinoza had pointed out, all human beings possess this
power whenever no external impediments stand in
their way or whenever they are not being constrained
to act in a certain way by an external force. Later
reconciliationists will add certain internal constraints,
e.g., psychological compulsions like kleptomania, to
the list of impediments to liberty.
Finally, freedom is compatible with determinism
because a free act is determined by a decision that
is itself determined by the operative motives. A free
agent, in other words, is one whose acts are caused
by his own volitions rather than external sources. Rec-
onciliationism has been and continues to be a subject
of heated philosophical debates.
The approach of Immanuel Kant to the free will-
determinism problem has reconciliationist aspects in
that he wishes to deny neither. Determinism or the
view that all events are caused certainly holds in the
empirical world, including the psychological domain
of inner experience. Like many of his predecessors,
Kant was not disturbed by the fact that determinism
precludes the liberty of indifference, for the latter
notion is not genuine freedom. Freedom does involve
the absence of external constraints. Hence, if man's will
is free, it is neither subject to external constraints nor
are its decisions determined by chance, i.e., by nothing
real. Freedom, therefore, must be self-determination,
i.e., determination of the will by its own laws. These
laws are not natural laws, i.e., laws governing experi-
enced events, for such external determination is in-
compatible with freedom. Experience tells us that
man's decisions are often governed solely by his desires
and inclinations, and, on that level, he is not free.
Hence, Kant does not agree with those recon-
ciliationists who say that freedom is ordinary determi-
nation by desires. Freedom, therefore, must be a special
type of causality or determination.
As stated above, experience tells us that human
beings are subject to determination by natural law. But
this conclusion is formed from the vantage point of
judging human beings as empirical occurrences in time
or, in Kant's language, as phenomena. Human beings
as noumena, i.e., as things-in-themselves, are outside
time and, hence, free from ordinary determination by
events. Although we do not know human beings as
noumena, they must be noumena to be free. Man as
phenomenon is determined; man as noumenon is free.
Although we cannot be conscious of freedom, we
can be conscious of the moral law and the moral law
implies freedom. Since experience tells us only what
is the case, not what must always be or ought always
to be the case, moral laws must originate in man's
âpure practical reason,â i.e., his reason as transcending
empirical inclinations. Hence a rational being who
acknowledges the moral law must acknowledge that
his will is being determined by his practical reason and
this is freedom. A moral agent must, therefore, con-
ceive of himself as free. Man, however, is both rational
and natural, and he, therefore, has natural inclinations
that may conflict with the dictates of reason. His expe-
rience of morality, therefore, is an experience of obli-
gation to the moral law within his deeper ânoumenalâ
self.
Freedom, in fact, is the essence of morality. For if
freedom is determination of the will by the laws of
its own reason, then freedom is autonomy, legislation
by the self for the self. And one of Kant's formulations
of the moral law is: act according to the principle that
rational beings are lawgivers to themselves, i.e., as
autonomous. If human beings do not create the laws
they obey, they might be bound to them by an interest
(e.g., God's laws might be obeyed in order to go to
heaven), in which case morality would not be truly
unconditional and necessary.
Many philosophers have rejected as unintelligible
Kant's attempt to preserve both freedom and deter-
minism. Since the rational determination of the will
of man qua noumenon is always in accordance with
morality, it is not clear why men act immorally. Pre-
sumably, they act immorally because they are deter-
mined to do so by their desires and inclinations. But
then only moral acts are free and people ought never
to be blamed, therefore, for their immoral acts. Also,
since every human act is part of the empirical world,
it is determined. Hence, all free acts are determined.
Now, how can man qua noumenon freely determine
the will to perform a specific act that it is necessitated
by antecedent conditions to perform?
Nineteenth-century idealists tended to be libertarians
on the free-will question, and F. H. Bradley is a good
example. (A libertarian identifies man's freedom with
his ability to interpose himself into the causal order
by directly causing a decision or act. The decision or
act is not caused by some state of or occurrence within
the self, e.g., a desire or belief, but by the self directly.