In defense of free will and punishment

We punish people because they are free enough to deserve punishment

Written by Bo Winegard

Few concepts are as crucial to ordinary humans and social practices as free will. Everything from criminal punishment to a sense of purpose seems importantly to depend on it. The thought of being a biological machine deluded by feelings of freedom but in fact wholly determined by impersonal forces, by inescapable chains of causes and effects, is troubling and undermines essential norms and institutions. Without hyperbole, one might contend that free will stands between us and nihilism.

However, according to several prominent public intellectuals (and many less prominent philosophers), entrusting free will with this paramount responsibility is a mistake. We might just as well wear a magic talisman to protect ourselves from disease. For free will, like magic, does not exist—it is an illusion born from superstition and sustained by a stubborn refusal to accept the findings of modern science.