Week 8: Libet, Do We Have Free Will?

Focus on Sections 1-4. (In Section 5, Libet offers some interesting reflections on the challenge from determinism, but this section is more relevant to last week’s topic.)


  1. (a) Outline Libet’s experimental approach to free will (Section 1). What are the main strengths and drawbacks of this experimental setup?
    (b) What were Libet’s surprising results? Why are these results often interpreted as a threat to free will, and how does this challenge differ from the traditional challenge from determinism?
  2. In Section 2, Libet introduces the idea of a ‘conscious veto’. What is this idea, and is it enough to rescue free will?
  3. (Optional). In Sections 3 and 4, Libet discusses two important further issues: (a) the generalizability of his results to other actions, and (b) the ethical and religious implications of his results. Choose one of these issues to discuss. What are Libet’s views on this issue, and do you agree with them? Why or why not?