No. 76 (2026): Número en curso
Articles

Human Free Will and Determinism: Critical Considerations on Daniel Dennett’s Philosophy and the Dangerous Idea of Freedom in Evolutionary Epistemology

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  • Vicente Claramonte Sanz,
  • Rodolfo Guarinos Rico
Vicente Claramonte Sanz University of Valencia image/svg+xml

Published 2026-06-01

How to Cite

Claramonte Sanz, V., & Guarinos Rico, R. (2026). Human Free Will and Determinism: Critical Considerations on Daniel Dennett’s Philosophy and the Dangerous Idea of Freedom in Evolutionary Epistemology. Tópicos, Revista De Filosofía, 76, 159-185. https://doi.org/10.21555/top.v760.3296

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Abstract

This paper proposes some critical considerations on Daniel Dennett’s philosophy, particularly on his notion of human free will in relation to determinism. To this effect, it analyses the four types of possibility studied by Dennett and their relationship with causality and chance in the context of the philosophy of biology. In addition, it also critically evaluates the distinction made by Dennett between deterministic, indeterministic, and nihilistic universes, with special attention to the treatment conferred in physics to the idea of causality in classical, relativistic, and quantum mechanics. Finally, it explains how the compatibility between human free will and deterministic natural laws defended by Dennett could be developed and explained in evolutionary epistemology.

Keywords

  • free will,
  • determinism,
  • indeterminism,
  • causality,
  • philosophy of biology,
  • evolutionary epistemology,
  • Daniel Dennett’s philosophy,
  • philosophy of science,
  • materialism,
  • libertarianism
    • ...More
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