Responsibility Without Freedom? Folk Judgements About Deliberate Actions

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Moral Philosophy
• Social Cognition

Background:

• Philosophical traditions posit freedom as essential for moral responsibility.
• Empirical research challenges this by examining laypeople's intuitive judgments.
• Previous studies indicate laypeople associate freedom with spontaneity, not deliberation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically investigate the relationship between deliberation, freedom, and responsibility in lay judgments.
• To determine if laypeople's concepts of freedom and responsibility align with philosophical positions.
• To explore how personal consequences influence these judgments.

Main Methods:

• An online survey was conducted to directly assess lay judgments of freedom and responsibility.
• Experimental manipulations focused on the degree of deliberation in decision-making.
• Judgments were analyzed in relation to beliefs about personal consequences.

Main Results:

• Deliberation had opposing effects on freedom and responsibility perceptions.
• Actions perceived as spontaneous were judged as freer.
• Actions involving deliberation were judged as more responsible.

Conclusions:

• Lay concepts of freedom and responsibility diverge, with deliberation being crucial for responsibility but detrimental to perceived freedom.
• These findings suggest lay beliefs align with semi-compatibilism, separating metaphysical free will debates from responsible agency.
• The study highlights the importance of considering intuitive judgments in the free will and responsibility discourse.