The Journal of Philosophy - Freedom of Action and Freedom of Will

Sep 21, 2026

Freedom of Action and Freedom of Will examines objections to determinism by analyzing the claim that an agent’s will lacks power over itself. The text contrasts Bishop Bramhall’s and Richard Taylor’s reasoning about inner choices, desires, and causal conditions, arguing that deterministic accounts are mistakenly taken to imply bondage. It questions what kind of control over basic attitudes is required for genuine freedom, and presses the issue by tracing agency to influences from genetics, early experiences, and the causes of one’s chosen character.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages32

Reading Time49 min

AccessFree to download

Book Review

Freedom of Action and Freedom of Will

On Predicting Our Future

Phenomenology and the Human Sciences

Notes and News

EASE DO NOT REMOVE THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY VoL.LXI, No.14:JULY 16,1964 Freedom of Action and Freedom of Will: IRVING THALBEBG .. 405 On Predicting Our Future:ALFREDJ.STENNER……………………415 # Book Review STEPHAN STRASSER:Phenomenology and the Human Scicnces:LEON ……………………………………428 J. GOLDSTEIN ……………………… …………………………………431 Notes and News ………………… PUBLISHED FORTNIGHTLY BY THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY, INC. # THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY FOUNDED BY FREDERICK J.E.WoODBRIDGE AND WENDELL T.BUSH EDITORS:John H.Randall,Jr.,Sidney Morgenbesser,Arthur Danto,andJames J.Walsh. CoNSULTING EDITORS:Herbert w.Schneider,José Ferrater Mora,andGeorge L.Kline. MANAGING EDITOR:Leigh S.Cauman. Communications to the editors should be addressed to the Managing Edi-tor,720 Philosophy Hall,Columbia University,New York,N.Y,10027.Subscriptions and advertisements should be sent to THE JOURNALOF PHILOSOPHY,720 Philosophy Hall,Columbia University,NewYork,N.Y,10027.The annual subseription price(24 numbers)is $7.50;to students,$6.00.The price of single numbers is $0.50;double numbers,$1.00;complete volumes(from 1960 on),$12.00. THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY is owned by the Journal ofPhilosophy,Ine.,and published bi-weekly(every four weeks in Julyand August)by Lancaster Press,Ine.,Prince and Lemon Sts.,Lan-caster,Pa.,17604.Editorial Office:720 Philosophy Hall,ColumbiaUniversity,New York,N.Y,10027.President,Albert G.Redpath;Vice President,John H.Randall,Jr.;Treasurer,Frederick A.Dewey;Secretary,Corliss Lamont. Second-class postage paid at Lancaster,Pa. # PHILOSOPHY ANDPHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH An International QuarterlyEdited by MARVIN FARBER in cooperation with A DISTINGUISHED GROUP OF AMERICAN ANDFoREIGN ScHOLARS Descriptive,analytic,critical,and historical articles representingthe major contemporary trends in philosophy.In addition topapers on phenomenology,PPR publishes studies in a wide rangeof areas including ethics and value theory,metaphysics,aesthetics,logic,language,political,social,and religious philosophy,theoryof knowledge,and the sciences. Address all communications to PHILOSOPHY AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCHState University of New York at BuffaloBuffalo,New York 14214 Annual subscription rate,$6.50 for libraries and institutions,$5.50for individuals;single copies $1.65 and $1.50 respectively,plus postage on back issues only.A list of the contents of past issues since 1940 will be sent upon request. JULY 16,1964 # THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY FREEDOM OF ACTION AND FREEDOM OF WILL DURING his famous debate with Thomas Hobbes,Bishop Bram-hall trenchantly formulated the anxiety of many latter-dayobjectors to Determinism.Bramhall's fear was that if a person's ...will do not come upon him aceording to his will,then he is not a free,nor yet so much as a voluntary agent....All the freedom of the agent isfrom the freedom of the will.If the will have no power over itself,the agentis no more free than a staff in a man's hand.1 Professor Richard Taylor's new book on Metaphysics contains simi-lar reasoning.Taylor asks ...whether the causes of my actions—my own inner choices,decisions anddesires—are themselves eaused....If they are,then we cannot avoid con-cluding that,given the causal condition of those inner states,I could not havedecided,willed,chosen,or desired otherwise than I in fact did.2 It is unimportant,adds Taylor,whether one’s resolutions and pref-erences occur because an'ingenious physiologist'has tamperedwith one's brain,whether they result from narcotics addiction,from'hereditary factors,or indeed from anything at all."Ultimately,the agent has no"control"”over his conative states.So even ifthe agent has strength,skill,endurance,opportunity,implements,and knowledge enough to engage in a variety of enterprises,stillhe lacks mastery over his basic attitudes and the decisions theyproduce.After all,we do not have occasion to choose our domi-nant proclivities.For Taylor,this inability of a man to

FAQs

How do Bramhall and Richard Taylor connect determinism to a loss of freedom?

They argue that if the will has no power over itself and inner choices are caused by prior conditions, the agent cannot decide otherwise and therefore lacks true freedom of action.

Why does the author find the dispute about determinism puzzling?

The author asks what specific “power over” the will agents are supposed to lack, and challenges the inference from causal influence to impossibility of having developed different proclivities.

What control would be required for a person’s will to be free?

The text suggests that remedies are not straightforward: even if one could select traits, environment, or desires, the question remains what caused that selection, leaving control either arbitrary or determined by prior inclinations.

Sep 21, 2026

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