Pamela Hieronymi is Professor of Philosophy at UCLA. Before that, she did her undergraduate studies at Princeton and received her PhD from Harvard. Her work extends in a variety of directions, but some areas she works in include moral psychology, the philosophy of mind, ethics, and the philosophy of action. In this episode, she and Robinson discuss free will and moral responsibility, the topic of an upcoming book entitled Minds that Matter. Pamela begins by introducing moral psychology and the role of analytic philosophy in the debate over free will. Then she and Robinson discuss the extent to which we control our actions and thoughts, and how all of this relates to the question of moral responsibility. Pamela’s most recent book is Freedom, Resentment, and the Metaphysics of Morals (Princeton University Press, 2020).

Pamela’s Website: https://hieronymi.humspace.ucla.edu

OUTLINE:

00:00 In This Episode…

00:35 Introduction

04:40 - What is Moral Psychology?

06:30 - Agency and Analytic Philosophy

17:57 - Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Determinism

21:57 - Control Over Thought and Environment

32:46 - Some Shortcomings of Other Accounts

35:50 - Kant and the Two-Standpoints View of Free Will

49:22 - Do We Control Our Beliefs?

54:33 -  Free Will and Moral Responsibility

1:11:16 - How Should We Act?

Robinson’s Website: ⁠http://robinsonerhardt.com⁠

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.