Philosophy & Society

An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 08 – Metaphysics 5 (Metaphysical Libertarianism) – Part 4: Can you touch a thought?

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What if free will isn’t just about choosing between pre-determined options? What if, in rare moments, we make choices that break the chain of cause and effect entirely? In metaphysical libertarianism, these uncaused decisions—like a magician pulling something out of nowhere—offer a glimpse of true freedom, where choice exists outside the expected, outside the pattern, and simply is.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 08 – Metaphysics 5 (Metaphysical Libertarianism) – Part 3: Have you weighed the pros and cons?

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Deliberation creates space between impulse and action. When we pause to weigh reasons, we interrupt habits and open new pathways for choice. Metaphysical libertarianism suggests that freedom may live not only in spontaneity, but in these moments of reflection, where we reconsider what seemed inevitable and allow ourselves to act differently than our past would predict.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 08 – Metaphysics 5 (Metaphysical Libertarianism) – Part 2: Have you ever surprised yourself?

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Some choices don’t arrive through deliberation. They appear suddenly, without warning, explanation, or clear cause. Metaphysical libertarianism takes these moments seriously, asking whether spontaneity might be evidence of genuine agency rather than randomness. Philosophy invites us to notice when a decision feels uncaused yet still unmistakably ours, as if freedom slipped in through a side door.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 08 – Metaphysics 5 (Metaphysical Libertarianism) – Part 1: Introduction What are you having for dinner?

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Metaphysical libertarianism invites us to consider whether every moment holds genuine alternatives. Like particles in quantum superposition, our choices may not be fully settled until we act. Philosophy asks whether freedom lives in those brief moments of hesitation, when routine loosens and multiple possibilities feel real. Sometimes, changing your mind isn’t a glitch at all, but an opening.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 07  Metaphysics 4  (Metaphysical Determinism) –  Part 7: Summary – Do you remember what you ate last night?

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Much of life unfolds on autopilot, guided by habits, routines, and forces we rarely examine. Determinism asks whether free will is something we possess continuously, or something that appears only in rare interruptions. Philosophy doesn’t demand that we escape the system entirely, but it invites us to notice when the code breaks. Perhaps freedom isn’t constant control, but the conscious choice to wake up, even briefly, from the routine.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 07  Metaphysics 4  (Metaphysical Determinism) –  Part 6: Is your phone listening to you?

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Our devices don’t need to listen to us to understand us. They read patterns. Clicks, pauses, habits, and repetitions reveal preferences we may not consciously recognize. Determinism invites us to notice how much of our behavior is predictable, even to machines. Yet philosophy leaves room for something interesting: the moment a pattern breaks. Perhaps freedom doesn’t arrive as total control, but as the rare and meaningful glitch.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 07  Metaphysics 4  (Metaphysical Determinism) –  Part 5: How are you?

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Much of our behavior is shaped less by conscious choice than by social conditioning. We learn what to say, how to respond, and when to conform long before we realize we’re doing it. Determinism invites us to notice how powerful the pull of the group can be, and how often “I’m fine” is less a truth than a reflex. Awareness doesn’t free us from influence, but it gives us the chance to choose our surroundings more deliberately.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 07  Metaphysics 4  (Metaphysical Determinism) –  Part 4: What is your favorite color?

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Our strongest preferences often arrive without our permission. We don’t choose what feels familiar, comforting, or compelling; we notice it after the fact. Determinism invites us to see preference as discovery rather than decision, shaped by histories we didn’t author. Philosophy asks whether freedom lies in choosing our reactions, or in understanding the forces that formed them.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 07  Metaphysics 4  (Metaphysical Determinism) –  Part 3: Why did you do that?

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Determinism suggests that much of our behavior unfolds before conscious awareness arrives on the scene. When we say “I don’t know why I did that,” we may be acknowledging that causes were already in motion. Philosophy invites us to reconsider free will not as total spontaneity, but as something shaped by habits, conditioning, and learned responses. The deeper question becomes not why we act, but how our patterns were formed in the first place.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 06 – Metaphysics 3 (Metaphysical Monism) – Part 6: Does God have a body?

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Idealism asks us to take seriously the reality of things that cannot be weighed or measured. Love, presence, memory, and meaning shape our lives without occupying physical space. If what matters most about us isn’t our bodies but our ways of thinking, loving, and relating, then reality itself may be more than matter alone. Philosophy invites us to look beneath appearances and consider whether consciousness, not physical form, is the deeper ground of being.

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