This third and final section of the course is devoted to three important philosophical issues: What is the nature of the self? Do we have free will? and How should be account for morality?

Descartes defends a dualist explanation of the self in which the self is a simple immaterial object (ego). Derek Parfit presents and defends an alternative view according to which the self is no more than a bundle of psychological states. Daniel Dennett also disagrees with Descartes and introduces the idea of the self as a center of narrative gravity (a fictional object that plays an important role in our theories about the world).

A number of different theories about free will are discussed in the Cover & Garns chapter. We'll focus mainly on compatibilist and incompatibilist accounts. Dan Dennett offers a version of a compatibilist theory that is compatible with a scientific view of human nature.

We conclude with a discussion of the nature of morality, thinking mostly about meta-ethical questions. Plato argues that what is morally right or good cannot simply be a matter of what God or the gods desire or command. We'll discuss other alternatives, including a naturalistic account, which is presented in the Ruse article. Ruse's discussion will take us back to the topic of Social Darwinism.

At the end of this section:

1. You should be able to explain and discuss critically the following concepts, positions and problems: the Ego theory, the Bundle theory, teletransportation, split brain conditions, free will, Determinism, Indeterminism, Incompatibilism, Compatibilism, meta-ethics and normative ethics, Supernaturalism, Non-naturalism, Naturalism, Nihilism, and Relativism.
2. You should be able to articulate clearly traditional arguments for/against the Cartesian Ego theory and for/against the Bundle theory. You should also be able to show how thought experiments involving split brain patients, teletransporation, and disassociative identity disorder (multiple personalities) can be used to challenge and support different positions.
3. You should be able to discuss in an informed and comfortable way the following questions:
   1. How do Cartesian and naturalistic philosophers differ in their response to the question “What am I?”
   2. How might one argue for/against the possibility of free will? What is the traditional dilemma against free will and the (neo-)Compatibilist response.
   3. How do Cartesian and naturalistic philosophers differ in their response to the question “Do we ever act of our own free will?”
   4. What are the strengths and weakness of meta-ethical theories like Supernaturalism, Non-naturalism, Naturalism, and Nihilism.
   5. How do naturalistic and non-naturalistic philosophers differ in their response to the question “That is the basis of morality?”

Derick Parfit, “Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons” in Mindwaves, C. Blakemore and S. Greenfield (eds.). Basil Blackwell, 1987. DOWNLOAD PDF

Here are some study questions you should consider as you read this assignment.

1. How is the Ego Theory distinguished from the Bundle Theory?
2. What is the teletransportation thought experiment?
3. What is the split-brain case Parfit imagines?

Cover, J. A., & Garns, R. L. (1994). Theories of Knowledge and Reality. (2). McGraw-Hill Primis Custom Publishing. DOWNLOAD PDF

Here are some study questions you should consider as you read this assignment.

Part One (Free Will and Incompatibilism, 305-326):

1. What two aspects of free will are singled out as important?
2. How is Determinism understood?
3. How is “incompatibilism” defined?
4. What is the dilemma of free will?

Part Two (Compatibilism and Agency Theory, 327-337):

1. What is Compatibilism?
2. What is the conditional analysis?
3. How does the Agency Theory understand the concept of an agent?

Ronald Bailey, “Pulling Our Own Strings,” Reason Magazine, May 2003. An interview with Daniel Dennett. DOWNLOAD PDF

Here are some study questions you should consider as you read this assignment.

1. How does Dennett think of the relationship between freedom and Determinism?
2. What is a “choice machine?”
3. Why does Dennett think that freedom evolved?

Translated by Benjamin Jowett. DOWNLOAD PDF Available online.

Here are some study questions you should consider as you read this assignment.

1. Why is Socrates being prosecuted?
2. Look up “piety” in the dictionary. Which of the meanings are relevant to this dialoge and why?
3. How does Socrates respond when Euthyphro suggests that piety is what is loved by all the gods?

Jean Paul Sartre, Existentialism as Humanism, from Existentialism from Dostoyevsky to Sartre, ed. Walter Kaufman, Meridian Publishing Company, 1989. DOWNLOAD PDF

Here are some study questions you should consider as you read this assignment.

1. What does Sartre mean when he says “existence comes before essence?”
2. How does Sartre understand the terms “anguish,” “abandonment” and “despair?”

Crimes and Misdemeanors - Discussion of Supernaturalism and Nihilism.

Crimes and Misdemeanors - Louis Levy, the existentialist philosopher.

Micheal Ruse, “The Significance of Evolution” in A Companion to Ethics, Peter Singer (ed.). Blackwell Publishing, 1993. DOWNLOAD PDF

Here are some study questions you should consider as you read this assignment.

1. What are the problems Ruse sees with Social Darwinism?
2. What is the difference between biological altruism and moral altruism?
3. In what sense does Ruse think of morality as a “collective illusion”?