Freedom and Persuasion
Freedom and Persuasion
This chapter argues that freedom is a matter of taking responsibility, but such an idea could be misunderstood if seen as some form of practical syllogism where an abstract, normative proposition is applied to a set of discrete facts. It begins by looking at the problem of freedom and seeking to understand how free action is possible in a world of causal determinism. Decision is a function of neither mind nor body, neither proof nor cause, but of an engaged imagination; one decides the moment he is persuaded to see the world one way rather than another. The chapter cites The Sweet Hereafter (1997), a film about a lawyer, for its take on the concept of persuasion—lawyers persuade a decision maker to see the facts as an expression or violation of a norm.
Keywords: freedom, practical syllogism, causal determinism, persuasion, The Sweet Hereafter
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