Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Do any of us really have free will? What does it mean to have free will, anyway? Is free will compatible with determinism? Hasn’t science disproved free will? How could we have free will if God exists and foreknows everything that we will ever do? The Free Will Show provides a beginner-friendly introduction to the topic of free will while at the same time exposing listeners to cutting-edge developments on the topic. Hosted by a couple of philosophers, Taylor Cyr and Matt Flummer, The Free Will Show features interviews with guests on a diverse array of issues relating to free will, including issues in science and theology. thefreewillshow.comThemes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ free will and determinism debates • moral responsibility, blame, punishment • agency, intention, voluntariness • theology: divine freedom, foreknowledge, providence, evil, grace • addiction, mental disorders, neuroethics • law: mens rea, culpability, prisons, reparationsThis podcast offers an interview-based, beginner-friendly tour through major philosophical debates about free will, human agency, and moral responsibility, while also introducing listeners to contemporary research in ethics, metaphysics, philosophy of action, and philosophical theology. Across conversations with academic philosophers, the show returns to core questions about whether our choices are genuinely up to us, what it takes to count as acting freely, and how freedom relates to determinism, prediction, and control.
A prominent strand focuses on moral responsibility: what it means to be blameworthy, what it takes to “take responsibility,” and how practices like blame, forgiveness, and punishment are connected to theories of agency. Discussions often explore how responsibility might be affected by psychological capacities such as attention, memory, intention, self-control, and narrative self-understanding, as well as by conditions like addiction and psychopathy. Related episodes connect these philosophical issues to legal theory, examining culpability standards, mental disorder and responsibility, and questions about when individuals, groups, or corporations can be held responsible.
Another recurring theme is the interface between free will and social institutions, especially criminal justice. The show examines competing justifications for punishment (including retributive, rehabilitative, and restorative approaches), concerns about overpunishment, and whether the state has the moral standing or authority to punish. These conversations extend to topics like moral luck and omissions, historic injustice and reparations, and collective or structural responsibility.
The podcast also frequently engages with theology and the history of philosophy. It considers how divine attributes—such as providence, foreknowledge, grace, and divine causation—might interact with human freedom, and it explores puzzles about sin, prayer, evil, and the possibility of freedom in heaven. Alongside these theological questions, listeners encounter historical perspectives from ancient, late antique, Islamic, and medieval thinkers, tracing how conceptions of voluntariness, agency, and divine-human interaction developed over time.
Overall, this podcast presents free will as an interdisciplinary problem, linking abstract theories to moral psychology, law, and religious thought.
| Episodes: |
|
Episode 111: Divine Responsibility with Nathan Bray and Stephen Kershnar 2026-Jan-19 32 minutes |
|
Episode 110: John Duns Scotus with Thomas Williams 2025-Dec-22 51 minutes |
|
Episode 109: Thomas Aquinas with Harm Goris 2025-Dec-08 43 minutes |
|
Episode 108: Anselm of Canterbury with Sandra Visser 2025-Nov-24 35 minutes |
|
Episode 107: Ibn Sīnā with Jon McGinnis 2025-Nov-10 61 minutes |
|
Episode 106: Boethius with John Marenbon 2025-Oct-27 45 minutes |
|
Episode 105: Augustine of Hippo with Jesse Couenhoven 2025-Oct-13 66 minutes |
|
Episode 104: Plotinus with Anna Viatkina 2025-Sep-29 61 minutes |
|
Episode 103: Epicureanism and Stoicism with Tim O'Keefe 2025-Sep-15 46 minutes |
|
Episode 102: Aristotle with Susan Sauvé Meyer 2025-Sep-01 34 minutes |
|
Episode 101: Plato with Eric Brown 2025-Aug-18 39 minutes |
|
Episode 100: P. F. Strawson’s “Freedom and Resentment” and Ethical Naturalism with Pamela Hieronymi 2025-May-26 56 minutes |
|
Episode 99: Addiction and Moral Responsibility with Chandra Sripada 2025-May-12 47 minutes |
|
Episode 98: Taking Responsibility with Elinor Mason 2025-Apr-28 36 minutes |
|
Episode 97: Intention and Memory with Wayne Wu 2025-Apr-14 43 minutes |
|
Episode 96: The Problem of Blame with Kelly McCormick 2025-Mar-31 61 minutes |
|
Episode 95: Experimental Philosophy and Free Will with Eddy Nahmias 2025-Mar-17 59 minutes |
|
Episode 94: Time Travel and Free Will with Neal Tognazzini 2025-Feb-24 61 minutes |
|
Episode 93: Basic Responsibility with Matt King 2025-Feb-10 47 minutes |
|
Episode 92: The Paradox of Moral Education with Sabrina Little 2025-Jan-27 30 minutes |
|
Episode 91: Agency Incompatibilism with Helen Steward 2025-Jan-13 41 minutes |
|
Episode 90: Sin and Free Will with Leigh Vicens 2024-Dec-23 31 minutes |
|
Episode 89: Free Will in Heaven with Benjamin Matheson 2024-Dec-09 37 minutes |
|
Episode 88: Divine Freedom with Thomas Ward 2024-Nov-25 54 minutes |
|
Episode 87: Grace and Free Will with Kevin Timpe 2024-Nov-11 40 minutes |
|
Episode 86: God, Purpose, and Reality with John Bishop and Ken Perszyk 2024-Oct-28 66 minutes |
|
Episode 85: Petitionary Prayer and Free Will with Scott Davison 2024-Oct-14 38 minutes |
|
Episode 84: Free Will and Providence with Alan Rhoda 2024-Sep-30 47 minutes |
|
Episode 83: Divine Causation and Creaturely Action with Gloria Frost 2024-Sep-16 31 minutes |
|
Episode 82: Compatibilism and the Problem of Evil with Jason Turner 2024-Sep-02 39 minutes |
|
Episode 81: Free Will and the Problem of Evil with Daniel Speak 2024-Aug-19 49 minutes |
|
Episode 80: Instrumentalist Accounts of Moral Responsibility with Anneli Jefferson 2024-May-30 45 minutes |
|
Episode 79: Neuroethics and Moral Responsibility with Josh May 2024-May-06 34 minutes |
|
Episode 78: Narrative and Moral Responsibility with Meghan Griffith 2024-Apr-22 49 minutes |
|
The Free Will Show Book Trailer 2024-Apr-15 6 minutes |
|
Episode 77: Ambivalence with Justin Coates 2024-Apr-08 44 minutes |
|
Episode 76: The Standing to Punish with Tommie Shelby 2024-Mar-25 38 minutes |
|
Episode 75: Group Responsibility and Historicism with Stephanie Collins and Niels de Haan 2024-Mar-11 50 minutes |
|
Episode 74: Omissions and Moral Luck with Joseph Metz 2024-Feb-26 36 minutes |
|
Episode 73: Corporate Criminal Responsibility with Mihailis Diamantis 2024-Feb-12 50 minutes |
|
Episode 72: Crime and Reparations with Raff Donelson 2024-Jan-29 31 minutes |
|
Episode 71: The Principle of Alternative Possibilities with Justin Capes 2024-Jan-15 41 minutes |
|
Episode 70: Forgiveness and the Law with Simone Gubler 2023-Dec-18 26 minutes |
|
Episode 69: Addiction and the Law with Stephen Morse 2023-Dec-04 38 minutes |
|
Episode 68: Psychopathy and the Law with David Shoemaker 2023-Nov-20 41 minutes |
|
Episode 67: Children and the Law with Gideon Yaffe 2023-Nov-06 39 minutes |
|
Episode 66: Overpunishment with Saul Smilansky 2023-Oct-23 42 minutes |
|
Episode 65: Rehabilitation with Katrina Sifferd 2023-Oct-09 35 minutes |
|
Episode 64: Moral Authority and Punishment with Victor Tadros 2023-Sep-25 30 minutes |
|
Episode 63: Mens Rea with Craig Agule 2023-Sep-18 24 minutes |
|
Episode 62: Theories of Punishment with Erin Kelly 2023-Sep-07 30 minutes |
|
Episode 61: Introduction to Free Will and the Law with Kyle Fritz 2023-Aug-16 50 minutes |
|
Episode 60: Compatibilism and Reduction with Robert Wallace 2023-May-29 55 minutes |
|
Episode 59: Crime and Public Health with Nadine Elzein 2023-May-15 38 minutes |
|
Episode 58: Options and Agency with John Maier 2023-May-01 30 minutes |
|
Episode 57: The Reason View with Susan Wolf 2023-Apr-17 42 minutes |
|
Episode 56: Raising the Stakes in the Free Will Debate with Justin Caouette 2023-Apr-03 42 minutes |
|
Episode 55: Blameworthiness and Forgiveness with Per-Erik Milam 2023-Mar-20 45 minutes |
|
Episode 54: Action Explanations with Megan Fritts 2023-Mar-06 25 minutes |
|
Episode 53: Manipulation and Intentional Agency with Andrei Buckareff 2023-Feb-20 51 minutes |
|
Episode 52: Free Will as a Natural Kind with Oisín Deery 2023-Feb-06 33 minutes |
|
Episode 51: Flickers of Freedom with Bradford Stockdale 2023-Jan-23 34 minutes |
|
Episode 50: Double Compatibilism with Greg Welty 2022-Dec-12 90 minutes |
|
Episode 49: Open Theism, Part 2 with Patrick Todd 2022-Nov-28 48 minutes |
|
Episode 48: Open Theism, Part 1 with William Hasker 2022-Nov-14 53 minutes |
|
Episode 47: Sourcehood Libertarianism with David Hunt 2022-Oct-31 45 minutes |
|
Episode 46: The Dependence Response, Part 2 with Philip Swenson 2022-Oct-17 37 minutes |
|
Episode 45: The Dependence Response, Part 1 with Trenton Merricks 2022-Oct-03 35 minutes |
|
Episode 44: Molinism with William Lane Craig 2022-Sep-19 42 minutes |
|
Episode 43: Ockhamism with Amy Seymour 2022-Sep-05 59 minutes |
|
Episode 42: Boethianism with Katherin Rogers 2022-Aug-22 41 minutes |
|
Episode 41: Introduction to Freedom and Foreknowledge with Simon Kittle 2022-Aug-08 42 minutes |
|
Bonus Episode: 50 Free Will Puzzles with Garrett Pendergraft 2022-Jul-21 28 minutes |
|
Episode 40: Moral Luck and Transformative Experiences with Marcela Herdova 2022-May-16 42 minutes |
|
Episode 39: The Vagueness of "Free Will" with Santiago Amaya 2022-May-02 31 minutes |
|
Episode 38: Omissions and Frankfurt Cases with John Stigall 2022-Apr-18 33 minutes |
|
Episode 37: Mental Illness and Moral Responsibility with Sofia Jeppsson 2022-Apr-04 38 minutes |
|
Episode 36: Manipulation, Bypassing, and Nonconsensual Neurocorrectives with Gabriel De Marco 2022-Mar-21 59 minutes |
|
Episode 35: Strawsonianism and Manipulation Arguments with Andrew Latham and Hannah Tierney 2022-Mar-07 41 minutes |
|
Episode 34: The Epistemic Condition and Tracing with Daniel Miller 2022-Feb-21 42 minutes |
|
Episode 33: Free Will and Moral Luck with Robert Hartman 2022-Feb-07 42 minutes |
|
Episode 32: Incompatibilism and Incompossibilism with Kristin Mickelson 2022-Jan-24 58 minutes |
|
Episode 31: Dependence, Freedom, and Foreknowledge with Andrew Law 2022-Jan-10 54 minutes |
|
Episode 30: Free Will as a Higher-Level Phenomenon with Christian List 2021-Dec-13 56 minutes |
|
Episode 29: Physics and Free Will with Jenann Ismael 2021-Nov-29 59 minutes |
|
Episode 28: Situationism with Christian Miller 2021-Nov-15 45 minutes |
|
Episode 27: Developmental Psychology and Free Will with Tamar Kushnir 2021-Nov-01 44 minutes |
|
Episode 26: Willpower and Ego Depletion with Roy Baumeister 2021-Oct-18 51 minutes |
|
Episode 25: Monkeys and Free Will with Adina Roskies 2021-Oct-04 34 minutes |
|
Episode 24: The Neural Basis of Free Will with Peter Ulric Tse 2021-Sep-20 52 minutes |
|
Episode 23: The Neurophilosophy of Free Will with Uri Maoz 2021-Sep-06 58 minutes |
|
Episode 22: The Libet Experiment with Tim Bayne 2021-Aug-23 54 minutes |
|
Episode 21: Introduction to Free Will and Science with Robyn Repko Waller 2021-Aug-09 59 minutes |
|
Episode 20: Season 2 Q&A 2021-May-17 58 minutes |
|
Episode 19: Mysterianism with Seth Shabo 2021-May-03 35 minutes |
|
Episode 18: Revisionism with Manuel Vargas 2021-Apr-18 33 minutes |
|
Episode 17: Compatibilism, Part 3 (Semicompatibilism) with Michael McKenna 2021-Apr-05 51 minutes |
|
Episode 16: Compatibilism, Part 2 (Dispositional Compatibilism) with Kadri Vihvelin 2021-Mar-22 40 minutes |
|
Episode 15: Compatibilism, Part 1 (Classical Compatibilism) with Helen Beebee 2021-Mar-08 46 minutes |
|
Episode 14: Free Will Skepticism with Gregg Caruso 2021-Feb-22 55 minutes |
|
Episode 13: Libertarianism, Part 3 (Non-Causal) with David Palmer 2021-Feb-08 45 minutes |
|
Episode 12: Libertarianism, Part 2 (Agent-Causal) with Timothy O'Connor 2021-Jan-25 54 minutes |
|
Episode 11: Libertarianism, Part 1 (Event-Causal) with Christopher Franklin 2021-Jan-11 50 minutes |
|
The Free Will Show Season 2 Trailer 2020-Dec-06 1 minute |
|
Episode 10: Q&A 2020-Nov-23 34 minutes |
|
Episode 9: Moral Luck with Dana Kay Nelkin 2020-Nov-09 40 minutes |
|
Episode 8: The Manipulation Argument with Derk Pereboom 2020-Oct-26 51 minutes |
|
Episode 7: Frankfurt Cases with Carolina Sartorio 2020-Oct-12 42 minutes |
|
Episode 6: The Problem of Luck with Alfred Mele 2020-Sep-28 38 minutes |
|
Episode 5: The Consequence Argument with Peter van Inwagen 2020-Sep-14 33 minutes |
|
Episode 4: Divine Foreknowledge with Linda Zagzebski 2020-Aug-31 44 minutes |
|
Episode 3: Logical Fatalism with Alicia Finch 2020-Aug-17 54 minutes |
|
The Free Will Show Trailer 2020-Aug-04 2 minutes |
|
Episode 2: Fatalism, Foreknowledge, and Determinism with John Martin Fischer 2020-Jul-29 51 minutes |
|
Episode 1: An Introduction to Free Will 2020-Jul-28 39 minutes |
Episode 0: Introduction to the Free Will Show2020-Jul-27 39 minutes |