Course Meeting Times
Seminars: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Prerequisites
This is an advanced undergraduate philosophy course, aimed primarily at philosophy majors, minors, and concentrators. If you are not in this category, please consult with me for permission to take the course. Enrollment is limited to maintain a seminar format.
Course Description
This version of 24.220 will focus on the concept of human agency. Among the questions we will consider: Is it possible, in principle, for our best science to undermine the idea that we have a capacity for genuine agency? Does it make sense for us to think of ourselves as governing ourselves, as if we have a part of us that rules (“reason” or “will”) and a part of us that is ruled (“passion” or “inclination”)? What is the relation between that self-conception and a scientific conception of ourselves? Can we intelligibly hold ourselves and others responsible for what we do? If the answer is yes, are there conditions that can undermine responsibility? In virtue of what?
Course Objectives
General philosophical skills
- Identify the philosophical questions addressed by the authors we read.
- Reconstruct the philosophical arguments that you find in the texts. Do so clearly, accurately, and charitably, so as to bring out the power of each argument.
- Critically assess the philosophical arguments that you find in the texts. Do so from the point of view of a different author, and/or from your own point of view.
Specific aims of this class
- Explain and critically assess philosophical positions on free will and determinism.
- Explain and critically assess philosophical positions on conceptions of the self.
- Explain and critically assess philosophical positions on responsibility for action.
- Explain and critically assess philosophical positions on the relation between these debates and empirical science.
Readings
For details on each session’s required readings, see the Readings section.
Course Requirements
Participation
This class meets in person. You are required to attend every class session. If an unavoidable conflict comes up, please let me know as soon as possible in advance. If you miss class due to an unanticipated conflict or emergency, please let me know as soon as possible afterwards. Unexcused absences will affect your participation grade.
In preparation for each lecture, you must read the assigned material very carefully. The readings are usually dense. Rereading is essential. I recommend reading each selection twice before class. Always bring the required reading to class and have it available for reference.
During class, I expect you to listen actively and to contribute regularly. I am aware that some students are more comfortable talking and others are more comfortable listening. If you are more comfortable talking, try to work on listening. If you are more comfortable listening, try to challenge yourself to talk more.
Papers
You will be required to complete 3 writing assignments over the course of the term. I will distribute prompts 10–14 days in advance of each assignment. In rare cases, you may write on a topic of your own, but only with my prior approval.
If you would like writing support, I encourage you to contact the MIT Writing and Communication Center. The WCC offers free, one-on-one professional advice from communication experts. The WCC also helps with non-native speaker issues, from writing and grammar to pronunciation and conversation practice.
For more detail on the papers, see the Assignments section.
Oral presentations
I will integrate oral presentations into the course as informal exercises. These will not be graded, but they will provide you practice presenting complex ideas to others.
Evaluation
In order to pass the course, you must attend lectures regularly and complete all assignments.
Grading Policy
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Participation | 25% |
| First writing assignment | 25% |
| Second writing assignment | 25% |
| Third writing assignment | 25% |
Other Policies
Late work
If you request an extension on a writing assignment more than 24 hours before the deadline, I will usually grant it. I do not grant extensions requested within 24 hours of the deadline, except in cases of emergency. Late papers will be docked one-third of a grade per day late (from A to A-, A- to B+, etc.).
Plagiarism
You may share ideas with others, but you must think and write for yourself. Plagiarism constitutes serious academic misconduct, and can have severe disciplinary consequences, even if it is unintentional. Please educate yourself about what constitutes plagiarism. The guidelines here, regarding quoting and paraphrasing, are especially relevant to this class: Academic Integrity at MIT: A Handbook for Students.
In this course, the use of ChatGPT or any other generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools is prohibited. This prohibition applies to all stages of the work process, including preliminary ones.
Calendar
Session 1: Free will: The skeptical challenge
Session 2: Free will: The compatibilist defense
Session 3: Free will: The libertarian defense
Session 4: Free will: Analysis of the debate (I)
Session 5: Free will: Analysis of the debate (II)
Session 6: Free will: Analysis of the debate (III); Strawson’s two standpoints
Session 7: Free will: Bok’s two standpoints
- First writing assignment due
Session 8: Free will: Two concepts of possibility
Session 9: Free will: Holding ourselves responsible
Session 10: Free will: The adequacy of Bok’s account
Session 11: Free will: Holding others responsible
Session 12: Human and nonhuman selves: Frankfurt’s psychological hierarchy
Session 13: Human and nonhuman selves: Watson’s reply to Frankfurt
- Second writing assignment due
Session 14: Hierarchical selves revisited: Science? Metaphor?
Session 15: Hierarchical selves revisited: Practical concepts?
Session 16: Why we might need to govern ourselves: Some of our human tendencies
Session 17: Weakness of will: Does it presuppose a hierarchical self? (I)
Session 18: Weakness of will: Does it presuppose a hierarchical self? (II)
Session 19: Weakness of will: Schapiro’s hierarchical self
Session 20: A problem for hierarchical selves?: Inverse akrasia (weakness of will)
Session 21: Disorders of agency: Compulsion or choice?
Session 22: Disorders of agency: Should we rescue or blame?
Session 23: Papers-in-progress workshop
- Third writing assignment due
