THE THEORY OF LIBERTARIAN FREE WILL: A CRITIQUE AND RESPONSE TO WILLIAM HASKER A Research Paper Presented to Dr. Greg Welty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for PHI 7640A: Philosophy of the Mind Kevin P. McAloon Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary December 2, 2011
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The Theory of Libertarian Free Will: A Critique and Response to William Hasker
A philosophical critique and response to William Hasker's view on libertarian free will
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THE THEORY OF LIBERTARIAN FREE WILL:
A CRITIQUE AND RESPONSE TO WILLIAM HASKER
A Research Paper
Presented to
Dr. Greg Welty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
PHI 7640A: Philosophy of the Mind
Kevin P. McAloon
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
December 2, 2011
1
INTRODUCTION
Throughout the history of both philosophy and Christian theology, perhaps one of the most
painstakingly debated subjects has been that of the nature of freedom possessed by the human will. Today’s
academic arena is no exception, and the mainstream contenders continue to battle along the same general
lines of libertarianism vs. compatibilism. Although perhaps more known for his theories concerning open
theism and middle knowledge, Dr. William Hasker is undoubtedly one of those contenders who advocates
the former, and, like others, sees the possession of a libertarian free will as being central to both human
worth and experience. He discusses these matters in a number of books and journals, and this paper will
primarily, although not exclusively, focus on his discussion on the will set forth in his book, The Emergent
Self.1 Through interacting with his material, I will be arguing that Dr. Hasker’s theories concerning the will
are primarily a result of a faulty epistemology, and may be shown to be false once a true and reliable
foundation for knowledge is established in its place. Because so much of this discussion will depend upon a
firm understanding of the objective world that we humans are inescapably a part of, as well as the real
awareness of Dr. Hasker’s—as well as all thinking human beings’—limitations as subjective products and
interpreters of this world, I have set out first to take time to establish some preliminary groundwork that I
believe is absolutely necessary towards properly interpreting his reasoning and why he reasons in such a
way. I wish to be emphatic about the fact that what follows is in no way an ad hominem attack. It is an
inconvenience that some of the most philosophically pertinent factors in these sort of discussions are those
which, when brought down to earth, become the most personal. That being said, let the reader please keep
in mind why some “personal” issues may be addressed, and to realize that they only serve to illustrate a
faulty epistemic foundation and the errors which are its products.
1 William Hasker, The Emergent Self (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1999). Some other
works by Hasker’s that were consulted are Providence, Evil, and the Openness of God (New York:
Routledge, 2009);“Theological Incompatiblism and the Necessity of the Present: A Response to Michael
Rota,” Faith and Philosophy 28, no. 2 (April 2011): 224-229; The Triumph of God over Evil: Theodicy for
a World of Suffering (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2008).
2
PROLEGOMENA:
TRUE EPISTEMOLOGY AND THE REALITY WE CANNOT ESCAPE
Since this is a philosophical discussion as opposed a theological one, I will attempt to argue from
as much reason as possible without exhaustive appeal to Scripture or Church History; however, since this is
also a Christian reaction against arguments made by one who gladly identifies himself as a brother in
Christ, some appeal must be made to an authority both parties recognize in common—without a
philosophical treatise on the validity truths such as the reality of an omniscient God, inspiration of
Scripture, etc. This section will focus on our limitations as finite creatures in autonomously deriving truth
from our surroundings; why God’s revelation is necessary for our quest for true knowledge about our
world; and what God’s written revelation declares about man’s current state and its effects on his
interpretations and reasoning. Hopefully as we then place Hasker and his arguments under this microscope,
we will be in a better position to clearly see any flaws that may be contained therein.
To begin with, it is detrimental to understand our situation as finite and created beings and the
limitations of pure autonomous scientific/philosophical inquiry in general. Most philosophers, including
Hasker, derive their theories either from rationalism, empiricism, or some sort of combination of both.
Reymond addresses the futility of these methods and sets forth man’s inescapable plight as secondary and
created beings:
For the finite knower to begin from himself alone with any datum, whether that datum be
subjective or objective, ideal or material, mental or nonmental, and to seek to understand it
comprehensively and exhaustively must inevitably lead him to other data, but being finite he
cannot examine any datum or all possible relationships of that one datum comprehensively or
exhaustively, not to mention examine all the other data in the universe. Furthermore, there is no
way he can be assured that the next datum he might have examined at the point at which he
concluded his research in his finiteness would have accorded with all that he had concluded to that
point. The only way to escape the force of this fact is to avoid the entire question of epistemology.
The entire history of philosophy up to more recent times may be summarized as precisely
man’s rational effort, beginning with himself and accepting no outside help, to ‘examine’ enough
of certain chosen particularities of the universe… To be somewhat more specific, men have
attempted to come to knowledge and then to the justification of their claims to knowledge via the
epistemological methods of rationalism and empiricism.2
Although perhaps objectionable to many modern thinkers—and hopefully by the end of this essay the
reader will understand why these truths are the oftentimes objectionable—the fact of the matter is that
human beings are creatures who are dependent upon the benevolence of a higher Authority and Knower to
2 Robert Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, 2nd ed. (Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson Inc, 1998), p. 111-112.
3
share with man that which He alone autonomously “knows” in Himself. Reymond expands on this
elsewhere:
Every fact that is enjoys its existence by virtue of some activity of God and thus carries with it its
“interpretation,” placed upon it by God Himself by virtue of His creative activity, His providential
care, and subsequent special revelation. For a man truly to know a fact would mean and that his
interpretation of a given fact, discerned by whatever methods are available to him, would of
necessity have to agree with God’s prior interpretation and we learn something about God’s prior
interpretation of everything from Scripture. True knowledge would then be “receptive
reconstruction,” that is, thinking God’s thoughts after Him, rather than “creative construction,”
that is, interpreting for the first time by man’s “sciences” the “brute” facts of the universe.3
These are vital truths to keep in mind when approaching any philosophical discussion. Man is not
simply a rational creature who can determine with his own fallible and finite abilities that which is
infallibly true apart from Divine revelation. Not only this, but every thinker is also driven by inherent
presuppositions that are latent within his mind before he even sets out to reason and interpret any fact;
especially in regards to those topics which are most personal and dear to him. This is why, as Reymond
says, inasmuch as what any man regards as “factual” is inevitably governed by a more basic “philosophy of
fact”: value-governing, possibility-determining, religiously motivated presuppositions and starting points.4
Greg Bahnsen correctly notes:
All argumentation about alternate issues eventually comes to rest at the level of the
disputants’ presuppositions. If a man has come to the conclusion and is committed to the truth of a
certain view, P, when he is challenged as to P, he will offer supporting argumentation for it, Q and
R. But of course, as his opponent will be quick to point out, this simply shifts the argument to Q
and R. Why accept them? The proponent of P is now called upon to offer S, T, U, and V as
arguments for Q and R…. But all argument chains must come to an end somewhere. One’s
conclusions could never be demonstrated if they were dependent upon an infinite regress of
argumentative justifications, for under those circumstances the demonstration could never be
completed. And an incomplete demonstration demonstrates nothing at all.
Eventually all argumentation terminates in some logically primitive starting point, a view or
premise held as unquestionable…. In the nature of the case, these pre-suppositions are held to be
self-evidencing; they are the ultimate authority in one’s viewpoint, an authority for which no
greater authorization can be given.5
This may explain why, as Hasker confesses, that after centuries of debates between libertarians and
3 Robert Reymond, The Justification of Knowledge (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed
Publishing Co, 1976), p. 68
4 Ibid. p. 71.
5 Greg Bahnsen, A Biblical Introduction to Apologetics (Tyler, TX:Fairfax Christian Bookstore,
1976), p. 33-34; quoted in Ibid. p. 71.
4
compatibilist, to this day neither side is able to persuade the other.6
I am stressing these points because they are inescapable factors when approaching any thinking
person’s interpretations and logic. Reasoning is not done in an objective vacuum; on the contrary, our
fundamental and prior commitments shape our assessment of evidences and premises. As John F. Frame
has stated, we are, in every sense, epistemically situated—historically, culturally, socially—and we lack a
God’s eye view of the world. Regrettably, no method exists for rising above our conditions that effects our
thinking so that we may see the world apart from our filters of beliefs and values.7 Dr. Kelly James Clark
also sees this limitation of human thinking when he says, “What people reason from determines the kinds of
inferences that it is rationally permissible for them to accept.”8 My question for Hasker and the reader will
be whether or not there are any ingrained beliefs or values that may prevent him from noticing problems in
his premises, and from accepting truths from opposing views in regards to the human will.
Given this situation of man’s limitations and need for an objective revealer of truth, we may now
correctly see the importance of grounding ourselves upon an objective revelation greater than ourselves,
which also, as we recognize our helplessness and surrender our epistemic autonomy to it, is able to correct
our presuppositions and provide us with a firm foundation to reason from.9 I may also add that this
revelation is sufficient enough to reveal reasons why we may hold some erroneous presuppositions and
why men are slow to correct them.
As Christians who have been enlightened by the Logos and Spirit of the ultimate Authority and
Knower, we believe that He has graciously given us the objective epistemological legging we need in His
written Scriptures. They have provided a solution to man’s need for an infinite reference point in order for
knowledge to become a reality. Since there is comprehensive knowledge with God, real and true knowledge
is possible for man, since God who knows all data exhaustively in all their infinite relationships can impart
6 William Hasker, The Triumph of God over Evil: Theodicy for a World of Suffering (Downers
Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2008), p. 154.
7 John M. Frame, “Classical Apologetics: A Presuppositionalist’s Response,” in Steven B. Cowan,
ed., Five Views on Apologetics (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000), p. 85.
8 Kelly James Clark, “Reformed Epistemology Apologetics,” in Ibid. p. 283.
9 This is in reference to material and propositional means of knowledge that may be observed by
all men equally. There is no room here to discuss the more important and subjective role of a Divine Spirit
and His method of illumination and revelation in regards to both natural and special revelation.
5
any portion of that true knowledge to man; and He has done so through His word.10
Therefore, since this is
a philosophical treatise I will now appeal to the only reliable foundation of knowledge in order to receive
reliable premises—as opposed to those derived from opinions or desires—from which I may interact with
Hasker and see whether or not he has done the same.
God has revealed that man was originally created as a finite and dependent being with God as His
sovereign and benevolent Source and Creator (Gen. 1-3; Lk. 4:4; 1 Cor. 4:7), whose worth was a derived
worth by virtue of the One in whose image he was made (see Gen. 9:6, where bloodshed is wrong not
because man is intrinsically valuable, but rather because he is made in the image of Another who is); but at
some point man wanted to become like God, abandon his childlike dependence, and claim autonomy and
knowledge apart from Him (Gen. 3:1-7). He went from being, like the rest of creation, God-centered in his
dependence and purposes, and instead he has rebelled against this Sovereign and laid claim to his own
supposed sovereignty, intrinsic worth, and beauty (Gen. 3:5-6; Ps. 2, Isa. 2:11). In a universe created by and
for God, the centrum of authority for man shifted from God to himself. He demanded that he become his
own “god” and authority, determining for himself what is true and what is false. Man continued to employ
reason, but now man became his own standard. It became his nature to suppress God’s personal revelation
to him. He did this by being preoccupied with his own ideals, purposes, and sin.11
The result was, and is,
that all men are now born by nature haters of God and incapable in themselves of truly submitting to Him
rationally and volitionally because of their rebellion (Gen. 6:5; Ps. 58:3; Jer. 17:9; Jn. 3:19; Rom. 3:10-18,
8:7; 1 Cor. 2:14 Eph. 2:23). Even true believers who have been regenerated are capable of living and
reasoning in the flesh (Rom 6:19; 1 Cor. 3:1-3; Gal. 5:16-17).
These truths are especially pertinent and must be acknowledged when discussing man’s ability to
interpret the world. To exempt logic from the effects of sin is to deny the biblical premises which clearly set
forth the extensiveness of human depravity. Observation is not a purely passive, objective process, but
rather, as previously stated, includes a subjective element in which we very often see only what we want to
see.12
As sinners who strive to live apart from God, the natural man is inevitably going to want to see that
10
Reymond, A New Systematic, p. 115.
11
See Reymond, Justification of Knowledge, p. 19-20, 86.
12
Steven K. Moroney, The Noetic Effects of Sin: A Historical and Contemporary Exploration of
6
which exalts man and diminish God and His reign over him. This effects our reasoning in all aspects of life
to varying degrees, as all aspects of life are intimately connected with our relation to God; and, as Brunner
points out, the more we a dealing with the inner nature of man , his attitude to God, and the way he is ruled
and determined by Him, it is evident that—apart from grace—sinful illusion becomes increasingly
dominant: “The nearer we come to the sphere of that which is connected with the personal being of God
and man, which can no longer be perceived y reason but only by faith [or reliance and trust in God rather
than ourselves] the more we shall see that the self-sufficient reason is a source of error.”13
And perhaps one
of the aspects of reality that is most connected to man’s relationship with God, which magnifies everything
that man is opposed to, and crushes every inherited illusion of godhood he has invented, is the subject of
the freedom and/or inability of the human will; especially in regards to God’s sovereignty. If Dr. Hasker’s
libertarianism is false, and the traditional view of Christian compatibilism is true, then it would fly in the
face of everything the natural rebellious man desires by revealing his inferiority and God’s transcendence;
his subordination and God’s total sovereignty; his utter dependence upon God’s sufficiency and grace; and
the prerogative of God to do all things for His own glory because He alone contains all power and goodness
in Himself. In light of biblical truth, it would be negligent not to take these weighty and intimate factors
into consideration when analyzing one’s argument on the surface.
This does not prove any of Dr. Hasker’s arguments false, but I have rather attempted to appeal to
an authority higher than him or I in order to paint the picture of the world we are both inescapably a part of.
I will now go on to interact with the arguments directly, without a direct appeal to the particular biblical
texts that address these issues; and ask the reader to deeply consider what has been set forth thus far, and to
let these initial and foundational premises guide their thinking as they ask themselves: 1. What is Dr.
Hasker’s epistemology and what protection does he provide for himself to avoid the dangers discussed
above; 2. Is there a stark contrast between his acquisition of knowledge in these matters vs. the methods of
those who have shifted their authority from God’s interpretations to their own; 3. Are there any latent
presuppositions that guide his arguments and rejection of other positions; 4. In light of this reality, what
How Sin Affects Our Thinking (Lanham, MA: Lexington Books, 2000), p. 30
13
Heinrich Emit Brunner, Man in Revolt (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1946) p. 248; and The
Christian Doctrine of Creation and Redemption, Dogmatics: Vol. II (Philadelphia, Westminster, 1952) p.
27; quoted in Ibid. p. 33.
7
may be the foundational motivations and desires that drive his reasoning?
DIALOGUE WITH DR. HASKER
In “Free Will and Agency,” the fourth chapter of his book, The Emergent Self, Dr. Hasker puts
forth his case why physical and psychological determinism should be rejected in light of the more plausible
theory of libertarian free will. He defines libertarian freedom as such:
“N is free at t with respect to performing A= df It is in N’s power at t to perform A, and it is in N’s
power at t to refrain from performing A, then there is nothing in the circumstances that obtain at t
which prevents or precludes N’s performing A at t. Here “prevent” applies especially to
circumstances that are causallyincompatible with N’s doing so.”14
He explains that this view of freedom seems to be more empirically satisfying than deterministic theories,
and this is a primary argument for his views.15
Contrary to most compatibilist theories, not only must an
agent be free to act according to his will, but also his very will itself must have power over itself and
influences upon it that may prevent or preclude it in choosing between alternatives. For libertarians, this is
the basis for all moral responsibility. Hasker states, “For them, responsibility is founded fundamentally in
one’s freely forming an effective intention (or, as it is sometimes called, a volition) to act in a certain
way.”16
In other words: the will is free to choose what it will will to choose. When confronted with the
question as to why a person chooses a certain alternative at a certain time, and why it seemed more
important to them at that time, Hasker says that the proper response for a libertarian is simply to reject the
demand for such a contrastive explanation. He believes that this demand is equivalent to asserting
determinism as an a priori requirement for successful explanation, which has no empirical basis.17
He goes
on throughout the chapter to discuss the Frankfurt counterexamples and various theories of libertarianism
that he finds, for the most part, unsatisfactory; however this section will be dedicated to focusing on the
above beliefs concerning libertarianism, their roots, and problems.
14
William Hasker, God, Time, and Knowledge (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989, p. 66-67;
quoted in Hasker, Emergent Self, p. 85.
15
Hasker, The Emergent Self, p. 82, 83-84, 100, 104
16
Ibid. p. 91.
17
Ibid. p. 103-104.
8
Hasker’s Faulty Foundations
To begin, I would first like to appeal to the previous section regarding the nature of man and his
epistemic limitations in order to set the proper backdrop for interpreting Hasker’s arguments. It was
previously set forth why strict empiricism that is grounded upon man and his own experience and
subjective interpretations is an inadequate method on its own for acquiring true knowledge; however, as
previously stated, it seems as if empiricism is Hasker’s primary appeal against various notions of
determinism. In the very first sentence of the chapter Hasker states, “Empirically speaking, there is not
much of a case for determinism. The only direct empirical evidence for determinism is the existence of
consistent, reliable, and accurate predictions of individual events.” 18
Although obviously I do not wish to
base my responses to Dr. Hasker on empirical terms, I would here briefly digress and candidly state that I
do not believe that psychological and theological determinism could have more empirical validation for one
who was not predisposed to reject the datum. Could we really say that, apart from either natural or divine
intervention, a child who was raised all of her life by sadistic parents who taught her all of the supposed
evils and atrocities of a certain race of men, would not be psychologically predisposed and determined to
later choose those alternatives and actions which most agreed her ingrained dispositions?
Dr. Hasker goes on further to say that common human sense and experience of autonomous
libertarian freedom is sufficient enough to provide a reason for dismissing at the outset rational
philosophical arguments pointing out the incoherence of such a notion: “And when you are confronted with
arguments purporting to show that agent causation is somehow incoherent, ask yourself seriously whether
these arguments are so cogent as to warrant your giving up as unintelligible something that, absent special
philosophical assumptions, seems entirely coherent and reasonable.”19
Again, since we are subjective
interpreters of this world, as well as sinful interpreters who are naturally predisposed to seek our own
power and glory, this is an extremely dangerous line to take in any discussion concerning intimate matters
such as this. Atheists suppress the truth that there is a God and base their interpretations and experience of
the world in light of their rejection of Him; where would the apologist be if we substituted the term “agent
causation” with “atheism” and gave them the same epistemological advice? In light of section one, I would
18
Ibid., p. 81; for other appeals to empiricism, see p. 82-84, 100, and 104.
19
Ibid. p. 100, emphasis mine.
9
say emphatically that we indeed do need philosophical assumptions when discussing these matters—and
whether we realize it or not, we all already contain and reason from various philosophical assumptions—
however we must obtain them from the revelation given to us by an infallible Source and Knower. Dr.
Hasker does not seem to realize that he already does contains a multitude of philosophical assumptions, and
it is only because he is basing his interpretations upon these that libertarian notions seem coherent and
reasonable. This is why Cheung states:
The Bible is opposed to what sinful man thinks. Proverbs, as with the rest of Scripture, does not
teach common sense – it teaches against it. By both definitions of the term, the Bible rejects
common sense – "normal native intelligence" has been crippled by the noetic effects of sin, and no
Christian believes that the Bible teaches "the unreflective opinions of ordinary people." The
Scripture is divine verbal revelation, not common sense.20
As we have seen, presuppositions are a, if not the, determining factor in what drives a man’s
thinking and why he either accepts or rejects certain notions; thus they are important to consider when
weighing the arguments he makes. We also know, from the ultimate reliable source of true knowledge, that
as a result of the Fall natural man is sinfully predisposed to seek his own glory, merit, and worth instead of
the One who alone is worthy of all worship and honor. Consider the following statement from Dr. Hasker:
“It seems to me, also, that the sense of autonomy described by these philosophers [libertarians]—the sense
that we are, in a real sense, the architects of our own lives—is an important component of the intrinsic
worth and dignity that many of us want to ascribe to ourselves and other human beings.”21
I would soberly
ask: from where does this desire to esteem our own autonomous sovereignty, worth, and dignity come,
especially in light of the biblical reality previously established? Would not such a personal, intimate, and
inbred desire powerfully affect our ability to apprehend truth that may be contrary to it? I believe that this
may indeed be the case here. Also, not to be cheeky, but it seems as if the dependency and grace described
by many of the historical Christian theological compatibilists—the sense that, God is, in a real sense, the
Architect of our own lives—was an important component of the intrinsic worth, holiness, and right to
sovereignty that many of them wanted to ascribe to God.22
Epistemologically, Biblical texts must be addressed in order to determine which of these
20
Vincent Cheung, Renewing the Mind, http://www.vincentcheung.com/books/renewmind.pdf
(accessed November 21, 2011).
21
Hasker, The Emergent Self, p. 85.
22
I.e. Augustine, Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Edwards, Whitefield, Spurgeon, etc.