Walden Two is a utopian novel written by behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner , first published in 1948. At that time, it was considered as science fiction since science-based methods for altering human behavior were not widespread. Such methods are now known as applied behavior analysis .
154-409: The book is controversial because its characters speak of a rejection of free will , including a rejection of the proposition that human behavior is controlled by a non-corporeal entity, such as a spirit or a soul . It embraces the proposition that the behavior of organisms, including humans, is determined by environmental variables, and that systematically altering environmental variables can generate
308-406: A constitution that provides for a " Board of Planners ", which is Walden Two's "only government", though the power they wield only amounts to that, approximately, of community organizers. The idea for the "Board of Planners" was conceived while Walden Two was still in its earliest theoretical stages, and there are "six Planners, usually three men and three women", who are "charged with the success of
462-477: A faithless elector ). Both federal and state laws regulate elections. The United States Constitution defines (to a basic extent) how federal elections are held, in Article One and Article Two and various amendments . State law regulates most aspects of electoral law, including primaries, the eligibility of voters (beyond the basic constitutional definition), the running of each state's electoral college, and
616-483: A false dilemma . Different compatibilists offer very different definitions of what "free will" means and consequently find different types of constraints to be relevant to the issue. Classical compatibilists considered free will nothing more than freedom of action, considering one free of will simply if, had one counterfactually wanted to do otherwise, one could have done otherwise without physical impediment. Many contemporary compatibilists instead identify free will as
770-414: A novel of ideas , mostly involving Frazier, a smug, talkative, and colorful character, guiding his new visitors around Walden Two and proudly explaining its socio-politico-economic structures and collectivist achievements. A wide range of intellectual topics— behavioral modification , political ethics , educational philosophy , sexual equality (specifically, advocacy for women in the workforce ),
924-426: A plurality of votes cast (i.e. more than any other candidate, but not necessarily a majority). Suffrage is nearly universal for citizens 18 years of age and older, with the notable exception of registered felons in some states. The United States is a constitutional federal republic , in which the president (the head of state and head of government ), Congress , and judiciary share powers reserved to
1078-491: A sole commissioner , who is assisted by boards to supervise taxes and elections. Town or township governments are organized local governments authorized in the state constitutions and statutes of 20 Northeastern and Midwestern states, established as minor civil divisions to provide general government for a geographic subdivision of a county where there is no municipality. In New York, Wisconsin and New England, these county subdivisions are called towns . In many other states,
1232-591: A "personocracy". This system has been "developed through ongoing experimentation". In contrast to Twin Oaks, Los Horcones "has remained strongly committed to an experimental science of human behavior and has described itself as the only true Walden Two community in existence." In 1989, B. F. Skinner said that Los Horcones "comes closest to the idea of the 'engineered utopia' that he put forth in Walden Two" . Skinner wrote about cultural engineering in at least two books, devoting
1386-621: A candidate for office, but deciding who will be the party's candidate in the general election is usually done in primaries open to voters who register as Democrats or Republicans. Furthermore, elected officials who fail to "toe the party line" because of constituent opposition said line and "cross the aisle" to vote with the opposition have (relatively) little to fear from their party. Parties have state or federal committees that act as hubs for fundraising and campaigning (see Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee ) and separate campaign committees that work to elect candidates at
1540-438: A chapter to it in both Science and Human Behavior and Beyond Freedom and Dignity . In Science and Human Behavior a chapter is titled "Designing a Culture" and expands on this position as well as in other documents. In Beyond Freedom and Dignity there are many indirect references to Walden Two when describing other cultural designs. Hilke Kuhlmann's Living Walden Two possesses many subtle and not-so-subtle criticisms of
1694-518: A choice or volition – a willing, trying, or endeavoring on behalf of the agent (such as the cognitive component of lifting one's arm). Such intentional actions are interpreted as free actions. It has been suggested, however, that such acting cannot be said to exercise control over anything in particular. According to non-causal accounts, the causation by the agent cannot be analysed in terms of causation by mental states or events, including desire, belief, intention of something in particular, but rather
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#17328580618151848-417: A conscious being). While determinism usually refers to a naturalistically explainable causality of events, predeterminism seems by definition to suggest a person or a "someone" who is controlling or planning the causality of events before they occur and who then perhaps resides beyond the natural, causal universe. Predestination asserts that a supremely powerful being has indeed fixed all events and outcomes in
2002-502: A defined area, generally corresponding to a population center rather than one of a set of areas into which a county is divided. The category includes those governments designated as cities, boroughs (except in Alaska ), towns (except in Minnesota and Wisconsin), and villages. This concept corresponds roughly to the " incorporated places" that are recognized in by the U.S. Census Bureau, although
2156-403: A deterministic universe is known as the problem of free will or sometimes referred to as the dilemma of determinism . This dilemma leads to a moral dilemma as well: the question of how to assign responsibility for actions if they are caused entirely by past events. Compatibilists maintain that mental reality is not of itself causally effective. Classical compatibilists have addressed
2310-496: A different problem for free will. Hard determinism is the claim that determinism is true, and that it is incompatible with free will , so free will does not exist. Although hard determinism generally refers to nomological determinism (see causal determinism below), it can include all forms of determinism that necessitate the future in its entirety. Relevant forms of determinism include: Other forms of determinism are more relevant to compatibilism, such as biological determinism ,
2464-503: A given set of circumstances. Accounts of libertarianism subdivide into non-physical theories and physical or naturalistic theories. Non-physical theories hold that the events in the brain that lead to the performance of actions do not have an entirely physical explanation, which requires that the world is not closed under physics. This includes interactionist dualism , which claims that some non-physical mind , will, or soul overrides physical causality . Physical determinism implies there
2618-610: A growing hunch that Frazier is somehow presenting a sham society or is in fact, secretly, a dictator. Defending the virtues of American-style democracy , he finally confronts Frazier directly, accusing him of despotism , though he has no definitive proof. Frazier rebuts, on the contrary, that the vision for Walden Two is as a place safe from all forms of despotism, even the "despotism of democracy". Frazier and Burris have pleasant talks in private, with Frazier revealing that other communities loosely associated with Walden Two have now cropped up. Although enticed by Walden Two's obvious success as
2772-554: A major focus of philosophical debate. The view that posits free will as incompatible with determinism is called incompatibilism and encompasses both metaphysical libertarianism (the claim that determinism is false and thus free will is at least possible) and hard determinism (the claim that determinism is true and thus free will is not possible). Another incompatibilist position is hard incompatibilism , which holds not only determinism but also indeterminism to be incompatible with free will and thus free will to be impossible whatever
2926-638: A mass base, although appeals for small donations over the Internet have been successful. Opponents of campaign finance laws allege they interfere with the First Amendment 's guarantee of free speech. Even when laws are upheld, the complication of compliance with the First Amendment requires careful and cautious drafting of legislation, leading to laws that are still fairly limited in scope, especially in comparison to those of other developed democracies such as
3080-412: A new causal chain. But this is impossible. Man cannot create himself or his mental states ex nihilo . This argument entails that free will itself is absurd, but not that it is incompatible with determinism. Strawson calls his own view "pessimism" but it can be classified as hard incompatibilism . Causal determinism is the concept that events within a given paradigm are bound by causality in such
3234-426: A non-physical entity on physical reality. Indeterministic physical models (particularly those involving quantum indeterminacy ) introduce random occurrences at an atomic or subatomic level. These events might affect brain activity, and could seemingly allow incompatibilist free will if the apparent indeterminacy of some mental processes (for instance, subjective perceptions of control in conscious volition ) map to
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#17328580618153388-525: A part of the county government. In others, survey townships are non-governmental. Towns in the six New England states and townships in New Jersey and Pennsylvania are included in this category by the Census Bureau, despite the fact that they are legally municipal corporations , since their structure has no necessary relation to concentration of population, which is typical of municipalities elsewhere in
3542-422: A peaceful community, Burris finds it difficult to look past Frazier's irritating pride and boastfulness about the community. Frazier admits his pride but argues that his personality should not influence Burris's opinion of Walden Two and Burris's own observations. By the end of their stay, the remaining visitors leave the community in a mostly impressed state of wonder, except for Castle, who has stubbornly settled on
3696-418: A political party or seek public office as independents. Each state has significant discretion in deciding how candidates are nominated and thus eligible to appear on a given election ballot. Major party candidates are typically formally chosen in a party primary or convention , whereas candidates from minor parties and Independent candidates must complete a petitioning process. The current two-party system in
3850-407: A power, or ability, to prefer or choose". The contemporary philosopher Galen Strawson agrees with Locke that the truth or falsity of determinism is irrelevant to the problem. He argues that the notion of free will leads to an infinite regress and is therefore senseless. According to Strawson, if one is responsible for what one does in a given situation, then one must be responsible for the way one
4004-530: A psychological capacity, such as to direct one's behavior in a way responsive to reason, and there are still further different conceptions of free will, each with their own concerns, sharing only the common feature of not finding the possibility of determinism a threat to the possibility of free will. The problem of free will has been identified in ancient Greek philosophical literature. The notion of compatibilist free will has been attributed to both Aristotle (4th century BCE) and Epictetus (1st century CE): "it
4158-455: A robot, then people must not have free will. This argument has been rejected by compatibilists such as Daniel Dennett on the grounds that, even if humans have something in common with these things, it remains possible and plausible that we are different from such objects in important ways. Another argument for incompatibilism is that of the "causal chain". Incompatibilism is key to the idealist theory of free will. Most incompatibilists reject
4312-545: A simple point system of units called "credits", in which more menial or unpleasant jobs (such as waste management ) earn a Worker a higher number of credits than more relaxing or interesting jobs, ultimately allowing more free time for that Worker. The final grouping within Walden Two is the Scientists, who conduct experiments "in plant and animal breeding, the control of infant behavior, educational processes of several sorts, and
4466-405: A sociocultural system that very closely approximates utopia . The first-person narrator and protagonist , Professor Burris, a university instructor of psychology, is approached by two young men (one a former student) in the late 1940s. The young men are recent veterans of World War II and, intrigued by utopianism , express interest in an old acquaintance of Burris, named T. E. Frazier, who in
4620-411: A specific level but do not direct candidates or their campaigns. In presidential elections, the party's candidate serves as the de facto party leader, whose popularity or lack thereof helps or hinders candidates further down the ballot. Midterm elections are usually considered a referendum on the sitting president's performance. Some (e.g., Lee Drutman and Daniel J. Hopkins before 2018) argue that, in
4774-514: A unanimous vote of the Planners and a two-thirds vote of the Managers". Frazier and five other people constitute the current Board of Planners during Burris's visit to Walden Two. Planners hold office in staggered, limited terms. They do not rule with any kind of force and are so extremely opposed to creating a cult of personality , system of favoritism, or other possibilities for corruption going against
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4928-406: A way that any state (of an object or event) is completely determined by prior states. Causal determinism proposes that there is an unbroken chain of prior occurrences stretching back to the origin of the universe. Causal determinists believe that there is nothing uncaused or self-caused . The most common form of causal determinism is nomological determinism (or scientific determinism), the notion that
5082-482: Is a compatibilist and she has just sat down on the sofa, then she is committed to the claim that she could have remained standing, if she had so desired. But it follows from the consequence argument that, if Jane had remained standing, she would have either generated a contradiction, violated the laws of nature or changed the past. Hence, compatibilists are committed to the existence of "incredible abilities", according to Ginet and van Inwagen. One response to this argument
5236-427: Is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. It is a concept based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the cosmos. Although often used interchangeably, the words "fate" and "destiny" have distinct connotations. Fate generally implies there is a set course that cannot be deviated from, and over which one has no control. Fate
5390-454: Is a set course that cannot be deviated from, but does not of itself make any claim with respect to the setting of that course (i.e., it does not necessarily conflict with incompatibilist free will). Free will if existent could be the mechanism by which that destined outcome is chosen (determined to represent destiny). Discussion regarding destiny does not necessitate the existence of supernatural powers. Logical determinism or determinateness
5544-466: Is a simple system of points that buys greater leisure periods in exchange for less desirable forms of work. Certain radically unusual customs of Walden Two include: children raised communally, families being non- nuclear , free love , and personal expressions of thanks regarded as taboo . Such behavior is mandated by the community's individually self-enforced "Walden Code", a guideline that encourages members to credit all individual and other achievements to
5698-421: Is already present in a deterministic world. Deliberative indeterminism asserts that the indeterminism is confined to an earlier stage in the decision process. This is intended to provide an indeterminate set of possibilities to choose from, while not risking the introduction of luck (random decision making). The selection process is deterministic, although it may be based on earlier preferences established by
5852-429: Is apparently self-motivated, with a relaxed work schedule of only four hours of work a day, on average. Any labor performed supports the common good and is accompanied by the freedom to select a fresh new place to work each day. Members then use their remaining free time to engage in creative, intellectual, or recreational activities of their own choosing, while automatically receiving ample food and sleep. The only currency
6006-440: Is appealed to as supplying the "elbow room" that libertarians believe necessary. A first common objection to event-causal accounts is that the indeterminism could be destructive and could therefore diminish control by the agent rather than provide it (related to the problem of origination). A second common objection to these models is that it is questionable whether such indeterminism could add any value to deliberation over that which
6160-421: Is associated with non-materialist constructions, including both traditional dualism , as well as models supporting more minimal criteria; such as the ability to consciously veto an action or competing desire. Yet even with physical indeterminism , arguments have been made against libertarianism in that it is difficult to assign Origination (responsibility for "free" indeterministic choices). Free will here
6314-420: Is assumed power to intervene in the physical world. Agent (substance)-causal accounts have been suggested by both George Berkeley and Thomas Reid . It is required that what the agent causes is not causally determined by prior events. It is also required that the agent's causing of that event is not causally determined by prior events. A number of problems have been identified with this view. Firstly, it
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6468-456: Is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility , praise , culpability , and other judgements which apply only to actions that are freely chosen. It is also connected with the concepts of advice , persuasion , deliberation , and prohibition . Traditionally, only actions that are freely willed are seen as deserving credit or blame. Whether free will exists, what it is and the implications of whether it exists or not constitute some of
6622-417: Is considered a matter of spontaneity and creativity. The exercise of intent in such intentional actions is not that which determines their freedom – intentional actions are rather self-generating. The "actish feel" of some intentional actions do not "constitute that event's activeness, or the agent's exercise of active control", rather they "might be brought about by direct stimulation of someone's brain, in
6776-617: Is detailed in Kat Kinkade 's book, A Walden Two experiment: The first five years of Twin Oaks Community . Originally started as a Walden Two community, it has since rejected its Walden Two position, however it still uses its modified Planner-Manager system as well as a system of labor credits based on the book. Los Horcones does not use the Planner-Manager governance system described in Walden Two. They refer to their governance system as
6930-431: Is difficult to establish the reason for any given choice by the agent, which suggests they may be random or determined by luck (without an underlying basis for the free will decision). Secondly, it has been questioned whether physical events can be caused by an external substance or mind – a common problem associated with interactionalist dualism . Hard incompatibilism is the idea that free will cannot exist, whether
7084-1033: Is dominated by two parties , which since the American Civil War have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party , although other parties have run candidates . Since the mid-20th century, the Democratic Party has generally supported left-leaning policies, while the Republican Party has generally supported right-leaning ones. Both parties have no formal central organization at the national level that controls membership, elected officials or political policies; thus, each party has traditionally had factions and individuals that deviated from party positions. Almost all public officials in America are elected from single-member districts and win office by winning
7238-430: Is evident that observation may disturb the outcome of the observation itself, rendering limited our ability to identify causality. Niels Bohr , one of the main architects of quantum theory, suggested, however, that no connection could be made between indeterminism of nature and freedom of will. Agent/substance-causal accounts of incompatibilist free will rely upon substance dualism in their description of mind. The agent
7392-403: Is frequently taken to mean that human actions cannot interfere with (or have no bearing on) the outcomes of a pre-determined course of events, and that one's destiny was established externally (for example, exclusively by a creator deity). The concept of predeterminism is often argued by invoking causal determinism , implying that there is an unbroken chain of prior occurrences stretching back to
7546-782: Is he who regulates food, work, education, and sleep, and who sets the moral and economic agenda." There are several varieties of behaviorism, but only Skinner's radical behaviorism has proposed to redesign society. The relevant principles were expounded at length two decades later in Beyond Freedom and Dignity . Walden Two was criticized in John Staddon's The New Behaviorism . Skinner thought Walden Two an accomplishment comparable to two science-fiction classics: Aldous Huxley 's Brave New World (1931) and George Orwell 's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). He assigned all three in his Nat Sci 114 introductory psychology course at Harvard. There
7700-710: Is in a tradition that goes back to Plato's philosopher king: a 'legislator' (monarch) and a set of guardians who are wiser than the common people. The guardians "are to be a class apart, like the Jesuits in old Paraguay, the ecclesiastics in the States of the Church until 1870 and the Communist Party in the U.S.S.R. at the present day," wrote Bertrand Russell , one of Skinner's heroes, in 1946. Not too different from Walden Two's Managers and Planners, and Frazier, Skinner's avatar and leader of
7854-421: Is in certain mental respects. But it is impossible for one to be responsible for the way one is in any respect. This is because to be responsible in some situation S , one must have been responsible for the way one was at S . To be responsible for the way one was at S , one must have been responsible for the way one was at S , and so on. At some point in the chain, there must have been an act of origination of
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#17328580618158008-648: Is located in a rural area and "has nearly a thousand members". The community encourages its members "to view every habit and custom with an eye to possible improvement" and to have "a constantly experimental attitude toward everything". The culture of Walden Two can be changed if experimental evidence favors proposed changes. The community emulates (on a communal scale) the simple living and self-sufficiency that Henry David Thoreau practiced (on an individual scale) at Walden Pond , as described in his 1854 book Walden . Walden Two engages in behavioral engineering of young children that aims toward cooperative relationships and
8162-409: Is only one possible future and is therefore not compatible with libertarian free will. As consequent of incompatibilism, metaphysical libertarian explanations that do not involve dispensing with physicalism require physical indeterminism, such as probabilistic subatomic particle behavior – theory unknown to many of the early writers on free will. Incompatibilist theories can be categorised based on
8316-421: Is perhaps more relevant. Despite this, hard determinism has grown less popular in present times, given scientific suggestions that determinism is false – yet the intention of their position is sustained by hard incompatibilism. One kind of incompatibilism, metaphysical libertarianism holds onto a concept of free will that requires that the agent be able to take more than one possible course of action under
8470-520: Is predominantly treated with respect to physical determinism in the strict sense of nomological determinism , although other forms of determinism are also relevant to free will. For example, logical and theological determinism challenge metaphysical libertarianism with ideas of destiny and fate , and biological , cultural and psychological determinism feed the development of compatibilist models. Separate classes of compatibilism and incompatibilism may even be formed to represent these. Below are
8624-400: Is related to determinism , but makes no specific claim of physical determinism. Even with physical indeterminism an event could still be fated externally (see for instance theological determinism ). Destiny likewise is related to determinism, but makes no specific claim of physical determinism. Even with physical indeterminism an event could still be destined to occur. Destiny implies there
8778-486: Is some irony in Skinner's choice, because Orwell's and Huxley's novels are both dystopias. They portray not the supposed benefits of a technological approach to human society, but the evil consequences of either coercive ( Nineteen Eighty-Four ) or stealthy ( Brave New World ) efforts to control or gentle human beings. On the contrary, Walden Two is supposed to light the technological path to utopia. Skinner's Walden proposal
8932-496: Is that if a person has free will, then they are the ultimate cause of their actions. If determinism is true, then all of a person's choices are caused by events and facts outside their control. So, if everything someone does is caused by events and facts outside their control, then they cannot be the ultimate cause of their actions. Therefore, they cannot have free will. This argument has also been challenged by various compatibilist philosophers. A third argument for incompatibilism
9086-601: Is that it equivocates on the notions of abilities and necessities, or that the free will evoked to make any given choice is really an illusion and the choice had been made all along, oblivious to its "decider". David Lewis suggests that compatibilists are only committed to the ability to do something otherwise if different circumstances had actually obtained in the past. Using T , F for "true" and "false" and ? for undecided, there are exactly nine positions regarding determinism/free will that consist of any two of these three possibilities: Incompatibilism may occupy any of
9240-414: Is the notion that all propositions, whether about the past, present, or future, are either true or false. This creates a unique problem for free will given that propositions about the future already have a truth value in the present (that is it is already determined as either true or false), and is referred to as the problem of future contingents . Omniscience is the capacity to know everything that there
9394-471: Is to know (included in which are all future events), and is a property often attributed to a creator deity. Omniscience implies the existence of destiny. Some authors have claimed that free will cannot coexist with omniscience. One argument asserts that an omniscient creator not only implies destiny but a form of high level predeterminism such as hard theological determinism or predestination – that they have independently fixed all events and outcomes in
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#17328580618159548-612: The American Civil War , although other parties have existed . There are major differences between the political system of the United States and that of many other developed countries , including: The federal entity created by the U.S. Constitution is the dominant feature of the American governmental system, as citizens are also subject to a state government and various units of local government (such as counties , municipalities , and special districts ). State governments have
9702-514: The Insular Cases , which were a series of 1901 Supreme Court cases that some consider to be reflective of imperialism and racist views held in the United States. Unequal access to political participation in US territories has also been criticized for affecting US citizens who move to territories, as such an action requires forfeiting the full voting rights that they would have held in the 50 states. As in
9856-548: The New Deal , and increasingly since the 1960s, the Democratic Party has generally positioned itself as a center-left party, while the Republican Party has generally positioned itself as center-right ; there are other factions within each. Unlike in many other countries, the major political parties in America have no strong central organization that determines party positions and policies, rewards loyal members and officials, or expels rebels. A party committee or convention may endorse
10010-517: The Northern Mariana Islands , Puerto Rico , and the U.S. Virgin Islands ; as well as minor outlying islands such as Baker Island , Howland Island , Jarvis Island , Johnston Atoll , Kingman Reef , Midway Atoll , Navassa Island , Palmyra Atoll , Wake Island , and others. American Samoa is the only territory with a native resident population and is governed by a local authority. Despite
10164-697: The Progressive Era ; they are written into several state constitutions, particularly in the Western states, but not found at the federal level. The United States Census Bureau conducts the Census of Governments every five years, categorizing four types of local governmental jurisdictions below the level of the state: In 2010, there were 89,500 total local governments, including 3,033 counties, 19,492 municipalities, 16,500 townships, 13,000 school districts, and 37,000 other special districts. Local governments directly serve
10318-572: The U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legislative body comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate ; the executive branch , which is headed by the president of the United States , who serves as the country's head of state and government ; and the judicial branch , composed of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, and which exercises judicial power . Each of
10472-502: The United Kingdom and in other similar parliamentary systems , in the U.S. Americans eligible to vote, vote for an individual candidate (there are sometimes exceptions in local government elections) and not a party list. The U.S. government being a federal government, officials are elected at the federal (national), state and local levels. All members of Congress , and the offices at the state and local levels are directly elected, but
10626-490: The United Kingdom , France or Canada . The United States Constitution never formally addressed the issue of political parties , primarily because the Founding Fathers opposed them. Nevertheless, parties—specifically, two competing parties in a " two-party system "—have been a fundamental part of American politics since shortly after George Washington's presidency. In partisan elections, candidates are nominated by
10780-411: The ability to make rational decisions. A different approach to the dilemma is that of incompatibilists , namely, that if the world is deterministic, then our feeling that we are free to choose an action is simply an illusion . Metaphysical libertarianism is the form of incompatibilism which posits that determinism is false and free will is possible (at least some people have free will). This view
10934-399: The common good , historiography , freedom and free will , fascism , American democracy , and Soviet communism —is discussed and often debated among the self-satisfied Frazier, the skeptical and doubting Castle, and the quietly intrigued Burris. Walden Two operates using a flexible design, by continually experimenting with the most successful, evidence-based strategies to organize
11088-408: The executive powers, including law enforcement and provision of services, to a highly trained and experienced professional city manager. The council-manager plan has been adopted by a large number of cities. Under this plan, a small, elected council makes the city ordinances and sets policy, but hires a paid administrator, also called a city manager, to carry out its decisions. The manager draws up
11242-456: The power to make laws on all subjects that are not granted to the federal government nor denied to the states in the U.S. Constitution . These include education , family law , contract law , and most crimes . Unlike the federal government, which only has those powers granted to it in the Constitution, a state government has inherent powers allowing it to act unless limited by a provision of
11396-412: The uncertainty principle . The relevance of such prospective indeterminate activity to free will is, however, contested, even when chaos theory is introduced to magnify the effects of such microscopic events. Below these positions are examined in more detail. Determinism can be divided into causal, logical and theological determinism. Corresponding to each of these different meanings, there arises
11550-437: The 'O' filled with yellow ink, with yellow lines radiating from the center of the 'O'. That Sun-like 'O' is an allusion to the proposition that The sun is but a morning star . Skinner published a follow-up to Walden Two in an essay titled "News From Nowhere, 1984". It details the discovery of Eric Blair in the community who seeks out and meets Burris, confessing his true identity as George Orwell . Blair seeks out Frazier as
11704-553: The 'leader' and the two have discussions which comprise the essay. Blair was impressed by Walden Two's "lack of any institutionalized government, religion, or economic system", a state of affairs that embodied "the dream of nineteenth-century anarchism ". Many efforts to create a Walden Two in real life are detailed in Hilke Kuhlmann's Living Walden Two and in Daniel W. Bjork's B.F. Skinner . Some of these efforts include: Twin Oaks
11858-401: The 1930s founded an intentional community . Burris contacts Frazier, who invites them all to stay for several days to experience life in the supposedly utopian community. Venturing to the community, named Walden Two, the young men bring their girlfriends, and Professor Burris brings along his colleague Professor Castle, who teaches philosophy and ethics. The rest of the book proceeds largely as
12012-567: The 21st century, along with becoming overtly partisan , American politics has become overly focused on national issues and "nationalized" that even local offices, formerly dealing with local matters, now often mention the presidential election. "Third" political parties have appeared from time to time in American history but seldom lasted more than a decade. They have sometimes been the vehicle of an individual ( Theodore Roosevelt 's "Bull Moose" party , Ross Perot 's Reform Party ); had considerable strength in particular regions ( Socialist Party ,
12166-414: The 50 individual state governments has the power to make laws within its jurisdiction that are not granted to the federal government nor denied to the states in the U.S. Constitution. Each state also has a constitution following the pattern of the federal constitution but differing in details. Each has three branches: an executive branch headed by a governor , a legislative body, and a judicial branch. At
12320-445: The Census Bureau excludes New England towns from their statistics for this category, and the count of municipal governments excludes places that are governmentally inactive. About 28 percent of Americans live in cities of 100,000 or more population. Types of city governments vary widely across the nation. Almost all have a central council, elected by the voters, and an executive officer, assisted by various department heads, to manage
12474-594: The United States is made up of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party . These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856. From time to time, a third party , such as the Green and Libertarian Parties , has achieved some minor representation at the national and state levels. Since the Great Depression and
12628-600: The United States. In particular, towns in New England have considerably more power than most townships elsewhere and often function as legally equivalent to cities, typically exercising the full range of powers that are divided between counties, townships, and cities in other states. Township functions are generally overseen by a governing board, whose name also varies from state to state. Municipal governments are organized local governments authorized in state constitutions and statutes, established to provide general government for
12782-533: The absence of any relevant desire or intention on the part of that person". Another question raised by such non-causal theory, is how an agent acts upon reason, if the said intentional actions are spontaneous. Some non-causal explanations involve invoking panpsychism , the theory that a quality of mind is associated with all particles, and pervades the entire universe, in both animate and inanimate entities. Event-causal accounts of incompatibilist free will typically rely upon physicalist models of mind (like those of
12936-598: The behaviour of a set of dominoes to neural activity in the brain where; "If the brain is nothing but a complex physical object whose states are as much governed by physical laws as any other physical object, then what goes on in our heads is as fixed and determined by prior events as what goes on when one domino topples another in a long row of them." Physical determinism is currently disputed by prominent interpretations of quantum mechanics , and while not necessarily representative of intrinsic indeterminism in nature, fundamental limits of precision in measurement are inherent in
13090-446: The case may be regarding determinism. In contrast, compatibilists hold that free will is compatible with determinism. Some compatibilists even hold that determinism is necessary for free will, arguing that choice involves preference for one course of action over another, requiring a sense of how choices will turn out. Compatibilists thus consider the debate between libertarians and hard determinists over free will vs. determinism
13244-414: The city budget and supervises most of the departments. Usually, there is no set term; the manager serves as long as the council is satisfied with their work. Some states contain unincorporated areas , which are areas of land not governed by any local authorities below that at the county level. Residents of unincorporated areas only need to pay taxes to the county, state and federal governments as opposed to
13398-461: The city's affairs. Cities in the West and South usually have nonpartisan local politics. There are three general types of municipal government: the mayor-council , the commission, and the council-manager . These are the pure forms; many cities have developed a combination of two or three of them. This is the oldest form of city government in the United States and, until the beginning of the 20th century,
13552-461: The city), and often is responsible for preparing the city's budget. The council passes city ordinances, sets the tax rate on property, and apportions money among the various city departments. As cities have grown, council seats have usually come to represent more than a single neighborhood. This combines both the legislative and executive functions in one group of officials, usually three or more in number, elected city-wide. Each commissioner supervises
13706-589: The classic arguments bearing upon the dilemma and its underpinnings. Incompatibilism is the position that free will and determinism are logically incompatible, and that the major question regarding whether or not people have free will is thus whether or not their actions are determined. "Hard determinists", such as d'Holbach , are those incompatibilists who accept determinism and reject free will. In contrast, " metaphysical libertarians ", such as Thomas Reid , Peter van Inwagen , and Robert Kane , are those incompatibilists who accept free will and deny determinism, holding
13860-457: The common good that they do not even publicly announce their office, and, likewise, most of the community members do not bother to know the Planners' identities. Due to this and also as a result of this, the Planners live as modestly as the other members of the community; ostentatious displays of wealth and status simply have no opportunity to arise from Walden Two's egalitarian cultural structure. Managers, meanwhile, are "specialists in charge of
14014-408: The community. Skinner was quite explicit about the need for technocratic rule: "We must delegate control of the population as a whole to specialists – to police, priests, teachers, therapies, and so on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies." Free will Free will is the capacity or ability to choose between different possible courses of action . Free will
14168-495: The community. Praising Walden Two's decision-making system for not being authoritarian , anarchic , or even democratic , Frazier argues that Walden Two thus avoids the way that most societies collapse or grow dysfunctional: by remaining dogmatically rigid in their politics and social structure. Except for a small fluctuating group of community Planners (temporarily including Frazier), Walden Two has no real governing body or power to exercise violent force over its citizens. Each member
14322-459: The community. They make policies, review the work of the Managers (heads of each area of labor), keep an eye on the state of the nation in general. They also have certain judicial functions." A Planner "may serve for ten years, but no longer." A vacancy on the Board of Planners is filled by the Board "from a pair of names supplied by the Managers". Furthermore, the Walden Two constitution "can be changed by
14476-422: The compatibilist), yet they presuppose physical indeterminism, in which certain indeterministic events are said to be caused by the agent. A number of event-causal accounts of free will have been created, referenced here as deliberative indeterminism , centred accounts , and efforts of will theory . The first two accounts do not require free will to be a fundamental constituent of the universe. Ordinary randomness
14630-471: The context of its capacity to determine future events. Despite this, predeterminism is often considered as independent of causal determinism. The term predeterminism is also frequently used in the context of biology and heredity, in which case it represents a form of biological determinism . The term predeterminism suggests not just a determining of all events, but the prior and deliberately conscious determining of all events (therefore done, presumably, by
14784-425: The county; in the larger ones, supervisors represent separate districts or townships. The board collects taxes for state and local governments; borrows and appropriates money; fixes the salaries of county employees; supervises elections; builds and maintains highways and bridges; and administers national, state, and county welfare programs. In very small counties, the executive and legislative power may lie entirely with
14938-413: The determination of outcome as their physical processes (see non-reductive physicalism ). Although at the time quantum mechanics (and physical indeterminism ) was only in the initial stages of acceptance, in his book Miracles: A preliminary study C.S. Lewis stated the logical possibility that if the physical world were proved indeterministic this would provide an entry point to describe an action of
15092-468: The dilemma of free will by arguing that free will holds as long as humans are not externally constrained or coerced. Modern compatibilists make a distinction between freedom of will and freedom of action , that is, separating freedom of choice from the freedom to enact it. Given that humans all experience a sense of free will, some modern compatibilists think it is necessary to accommodate this intuition. Compatibilists often associate freedom of will with
15246-450: The district's charter or other founding document, and with sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments; known by a variety of titles, including districts, authorities, boards, commissions, etc., as specified in the enabling state legislation . The United States possesses a number of unincorporated territories , including 16 island territories across the globe. These are areas of land which are not under
15400-521: The divisions and services of Walden Two". A member of the community can "work up to be a Manager – through intermediate positions which carry a good deal of responsibility and provide the necessary apprenticeship". The Managers are not elected by the members of Walden Two in any kind of democratic process. The method of selecting Managers is not specified, though they are likely appointed by the Board of Planners. The regular community members are known (though only for official reasons) as Workers, and they have
15554-429: The early Greek stoics (for example, Chrysippus ), and some modern philosophers lament the lack of progress over all these centuries. On one hand, humans have a strong sense of freedom, which leads them to believe that they have free will. On the other hand, an intuitive feeling of free will could be mistaken. It is difficult to reconcile the intuitive evidence that conscious decisions are causally effective with
15708-405: The environment", and that Skinner's goal "is to create a frictionless society where individuals are properly socialized to function with others as a unit", and to thus "make the community [Walden Two] into a perfectly efficient anthill ". Gamble writes, "We find at the end of Walden Two that Frazier [a founding member of Walden Two]... has sole control over the political system and its policies. It
15862-441: The erasure of competitive sentiments. The community has also dissolved the nuclear family through placing the responsibility of child-rearing in the hands of the larger community and not just the child's parents or immediate family. Walden Two consists of four loose classes or groupings of people by occupation (though they are not akin to strict economic classes ): Planners , Managers , Workers , and Scientists . Walden Two has
16016-612: The fact that an organic act was not passed in Congress, American Samoa established its own constitution in 1967, and has self governed ever since. Seeking statehood or independence is often debated in US territories, such as in Puerto Rico, but even if referendums on these issues are held, congressional approval is needed for changes in status to take place. The citizenship status of residents in US unincorporated territories has caused concern for their ability to influence and participate in
16170-407: The flexible option of changing their field and location of employment every single day, so as not to grow bored or stagnant during the week with their four-on-average daily hours of work. Available work often includes the necessary physical labor that goes into maintaining a community, such as basic building or repairing projects, cleaning duties, or agricultural work. Labor in Walden Two operates using
16324-511: The idea that all behaviors, beliefs, and desires are fixed by our genetic endowment and our biochemical makeup, the latter of which is affected by both genes and environment, cultural determinism and psychological determinism . Combinations and syntheses of determinist theses, such as bio-environmental determinism, are even more common. Suggestions have been made that hard determinism need not maintain strict determinism, where something near to, like that informally known as adequate determinism ,
16478-410: The idea that freedom of action consists simply in "voluntary" behavior. They insist, rather, that free will means that someone must be the "ultimate" or "originating" cause of his actions. They must be causa sui , in the traditional phrase. Being responsible for one's choices is the first cause of those choices, where first cause means that there is no antecedent cause of that cause. The argument, then,
16632-489: The idea that, somehow, Frazier is a scoundrel and the community is fraudulent. During the visitors' return to the university, Burris ultimately decides in an inspired moment that he wishes to fully embrace the Walden Two lifestyle. Quickly abandoning his professorial post, Burris travels back in a long and spiritually satisfying journey on foot; he is welcomed once again to Walden Two with open arms. The novel describes "an experimental community called Walden Two". The community
16786-450: The incompatibility of omnipotence with a good creator deity (i.e. if a deity knew what they were going to choose, then they are responsible for letting them choose it). Predeterminism is the idea that all events are determined in advance. Predeterminism is the philosophy that all events of history , past, present and future, have been decided or are known (by God , fate , or some other force), including human actions. Predeterminism
16940-448: The indeterminacy of agent volition processes could map to the indeterminacy of certain physical events – and the outcomes of these events could therefore be considered caused by the agent. Models of volition have been constructed in which it is seen as a particular kind of complex, high-level process with an element of physical indeterminism. An example of this approach is that of Robert Kane , where he hypothesizes that "in each case,
17094-479: The indeterminism is functioning as a hindrance or obstacle to her realizing one of her purposes – a hindrance or obstacle in the form of resistance within her will which must be overcome by effort." According to Robert Kane such "ultimate responsibility" is a required condition for free will. An important factor in such a theory is that the agent cannot be reduced to physical neuronal events, but rather mental processes are said to provide an equally valid account of
17248-469: The jurisdiction of any state, and do not have a government established by Congress through an organic act . Citizens of these territories can vote for members of their own local governments, and some can also elect representatives to serve in Congress—though they only have observer status. The unincorporated territories of the U.S. include the permanently inhabited territories of American Samoa , Guam ,
17402-519: The larger community. Community counselors are also available to assist with better understanding and following the Code. A rigorous program of " behavioral engineering " is begun at birth and completed during childhood, yet the adults of Walden Two indeed appear to be legitimately peaceful, productive, happy, well-rounded, and self-directed people. Excitedly, two of the young visitors sign up and are soon admitted as permanent members. Castle, though, has fostered
17556-424: The last sentence of Thoreau's Walden , but the publishers suggested the current title as an alternative. In theory and in practice, Thoreau's Walden Pond experiment and the fictive Walden Two experiment were very different from one another. For instance, Thoreau's book Walden espouses the virtues of self-reliance at the individual level, while Walden Two espouses The cover of some editions of Walden Two shows
17710-510: The local level, governments are found in counties or county-equivalents , and beneath them individual municipalities , townships , school districts , and special districts . Officials are popularly elected at the federal, state and local levels, with the major exception being the President, who is instead elected indirectly by the people through the Electoral College . American politics
17864-427: The longest running debates of philosophy. Some conceive of free will as the ability to act beyond the limits of external influences or wishes. Some conceive free will to be the capacity to make choices undetermined by past events. Determinism suggests that only one course of events is possible, which is inconsistent with a libertarian model of free will. Ancient Greek philosophy identified this issue, which remains
18018-736: The municipal government as well. A notable example of this is Paradise, Nevada , an unincorporated area where many of the casinos commonly associated with Las Vegas are situated. In addition to general-purpose government entities legislating at the state, county, and city level, special-purpose areas may exist as well, provide one or more specific services that are not being supplied by other existing governments. School districts are organized local entities providing public elementary and secondary education which, under state law, have sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments. Special districts are authorized by state law to provide designated functions as established in
18172-443: The municipality and the county have been merged into a unified, coterminous jurisdiction —that is to say, these counties consist in their entirety of a single municipality whose city government also operates as the county government. Some counties, such as Arlington County, Virginia , do not have any additional subdivisions. Some states contain independent cities that are not part of any county; although it may still function as if it
18326-408: The national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments. The federal government is divided into three branches, as per the specific terms articulated in the U.S. Constitution: The federal government's layout is explained in the Constitution. Two political parties , the Democratic Party and the Republican Party , have dominated American politics since
18480-454: The necessary consequences of the past and the laws of nature, then we have no control over them and, hence, no free will. This is called the consequence argument . Peter van Inwagen remarks that C.D. Broad had a version of the consequence argument as early as the 1930s. The difficulty of this argument for some compatibilists lies in the fact that it entails the impossibility that one could have chosen other than one has. For example, if Jane
18634-672: The needs of the people, providing everything from police and fire protection to sanitary codes, health regulations, education, public transportation, and housing. Typically local elections are nonpartisan — local activists suspend their party affiliations when campaigning and governing. The county is the administrative subdivision of the state, authorized by state constitutions and statutes. The county equivalents in Louisiana are called parishes , while those in Alaska are called boroughs . The specific governmental powers of counties vary widely between
18788-517: The nine positions except (5), (8) or (3), which last corresponds to soft determinism . Position (1) is hard determinism , and position (2) is libertarianism . The position (1) of hard determinism adds to the table the contention that D implies FW is untrue, and the position (2) of libertarianism adds the contention that FW implies D is untrue. Position (9) may be called hard incompatibilism if one interprets ? as meaning both concepts are of dubious value. Compatibilism itself may occupy any of
18942-414: The nine positions, that is, there is no logical contradiction between determinism and free will, and either or both may be true or false in principle. However, the most common meaning attached to compatibilism is that some form of determinism is true and yet we have some form of free will, position (3). Alex Rosenberg makes an extrapolation of physical determinism as inferred on the macroscopic scale by
19096-470: The novel, the Walden Two Community is mentioned as having the benefits of living in a place like Thoreau's Walden, but "with company". It is, as the book says, 'Walden for two'—meaning a place for achieving personal self-actualization , but within a vibrant community, rather than in a place of solitude. Originally, Skinner indicated that he wanted to title it The Sun is but a Morning Star , a quote of
19250-406: The origin of the universe. In the case of predeterminism, this chain of events has been pre-established, and human actions cannot interfere with the outcomes of this pre-established chain. Predeterminism can be used to mean such pre-established causal determinism, in which case it is categorised as a specific type of determinism . It can also be used interchangeably with causal determinism – in
19404-453: The original Walden Two which are related to the actual efforts that arose from the novel. One criticism is that many of the founders of real-life Walden Twos identified with, or wanted to emulate, Frazier, the uncharismatic and implicitly despotic founder of the community. In a critique of Walden Two, Harvey L. Gamble, Jr. asserted that Skinner's "fundamental thesis is that individual traits are shaped from above, by social forces that create
19558-660: The past and the present dictate the future entirely and necessarily by rigid natural laws, that every occurrence results inevitably from prior events. Quantum mechanics poses a serious challenge to this view. Fundamental debate continues over whether the physical universe is likely to be deterministic . Although the scientific method cannot be used to rule out indeterminism with respect to violations of causal closure , it can be used to identify indeterminism in natural law. Interpretations of quantum mechanics at present are both deterministic and indeterministic , and are being constrained by ongoing experimentation. Destiny or fate
19712-434: The phrase "free will" made any sense (compare with theological noncognitivism , a similar stance on the existence of God ). He also took the view that the truth of determinism was irrelevant. He believed that the defining feature of voluntary behavior was that individuals have the ability to postpone a decision long enough to reflect or deliberate upon the consequences of a choice: "...the will in truth, signifies nothing but
19866-585: The politics of the United States. In recent decades, the Supreme Court has established voting as a fundamental right of US citizens, even though residents of territories do not hold full voting rights. Despite this, residents must still abide by federal laws that they cannot equitably influence, as well as register for the national Selective Service System , which has led some scholars to argue that residents of territories are essentially second-class citizens. The legal justifications for these discrepancies stem from
20020-581: The president is elected indirectly, by an Electoral College whose electors represent their state and are elected by popular vote. (Before the Seventeenth Amendment was passed, Senators were also elected indirectly, by state legislatures.) These presidential electors were originally expected to exercise their own judgement. In modern practice, though, the electors are chosen by their party and pledged to vote for that party's presidential candidate (in rare occurrences they may violate their pledge, becoming
20174-541: The right to choose any political figure outside their respective areas and can only elect a non-voting delegate to serve in the House of Representatives . All states and the District of Columbia contribute to the electoral vote for president. Successful participation, especially in federal elections, often requires large amounts of money, especially for television advertising. This money can be very difficult to raise by appeals to
20328-451: The rights of the people and a plan for organizing the government, and are generally more detailed. At the state and local level, the process of initiatives and referendums allow citizens to place new legislation on a popular ballot, or to place legislation that has recently been passed by a legislature on a ballot for a popular vote. Initiatives and referendums, along with recall elections and popular primary elections, are signature reforms of
20482-405: The running of state and local elections. Who has the right to vote in the United States is regulated by the Constitution and federal and state laws. Suffrage is nearly universal for citizens 18 years of age and older. Voting rights are sometimes restricted as a result of felony conviction , depending on the state. The District, and other U.S. holdings like Puerto Rico and Guam , do not have
20636-454: The same process. Deliberative indeterminism has been referenced by Daniel Dennett and John Martin Fischer . An obvious objection to such a view is that an agent cannot be assigned ownership over their decisions (or preferences used to make those decisions) to any greater degree than that of a compatibilist model. Centred accounts propose that for any given decision between two possibilities,
20790-413: The state or national constitution. Like the federal government, state governments have three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The chief executive of a state is its popularly elected governor , who typically holds office for a four-year term (although in some states the term is two years). Except for Nebraska , which has unicameral legislature, all states have a bicameral legislature, with
20944-457: The state) does not operate under a county-level government at all. In areas that do not have any county governmental function and are simply a division of land, services are provided either by lower level townships or municipalities, or the state. Counties may contain a number of cities , towns, villages, or hamlets . Some cities—including Philadelphia , Honolulu , San Francisco , Nashville , and Denver —are consolidated city-counties , where
21098-517: The states. In some states, mainly in New England , they are primarily used as judicial districts. In other states, counties have broad powers in housing, education, transportation and recreation. County government has been eliminated throughout Connecticut , Rhode Island , and in parts of Massachusetts ; while the Unorganized Borough area of Alaska (which makes up about a half of the area of
21252-401: The strength of reason will be considered for each option, yet there is still a probability the weaker candidate will be chosen. An obvious objection to such a view is that decisions are explicitly left up to chance, and origination or responsibility cannot be assigned for any given decision. Efforts of will theory is related to the role of will power in decision making. It suggests that
21406-465: The term town does not have any specific meaning; it is simply an informal term applied to populated places (both incorporated and unincorporated municipalities). Moreover, in some states, the term town is equivalent to how civil townships are used in other states. Like counties, the specific responsibilities to townships vary based on each state. Many states grant townships some governmental powers, making them civil townships , either independently or as
21560-418: The type of indeterminism they require; uncaused events, non-deterministically caused events, and agent/substance-caused events. Non-causal accounts of incompatibilist free will do not require a free action to be caused by either an agent or a physical event. They either rely upon a world that is not causally closed, or physical indeterminism. Non-causal accounts often claim that each intentional action requires
21714-430: The underlying indeterminacy of the physical construct. This relationship, however, requires a causative role over probabilities that is questionable, and it is far from established that brain activity responsible for human action can be affected by such events. Secondarily, these incompatibilist models are dependent upon the relationship between action and conscious volition, as studied in the neuroscience of free will . It
21868-559: The universe in advance, and is a famous doctrine of the Calvinists in Christian theology . Predestination is often considered a form of hard theological determinism . Politics of the United States [REDACTED] [REDACTED] In the United States , politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal republic . The three distinct branches share powers :
22022-409: The universe in advance. In such a case, even if an individual could have influence over their lower level physical system, their choices in regard to this cannot be their own, as is the case with libertarian free will. Omniscience features as an incompatible-properties argument for the existence of God , known as the argument from free will , and is closely related to other such arguments, for example
22176-456: The upper house usually called the Senate and the lower house called the House of Representatives , the Assembly or something similar. In most states, senators serve four-year terms, and members of the lower house serve two-year terms. The constitutions of the various states differ in some details but generally follow a pattern similar to that of the federal Constitution, including a statement of
22330-434: The use of some of [Walden Two's] raw materials". Scientists are the least discussed group in the novel; little is said about the selection, total number, specific duties, or methods of the Scientists, though they presumably carry out the ongoing social experiments that help determine the most beneficial social strategies for the community. Walden Two' s title is a direct reference to Henry David Thoreau 's book Walden . In
22484-401: The view that some form of indeterminism is true. Another view is that of hard incompatibilists, which state that free will is incompatible with both determinism and indeterminism . Traditional arguments for incompatibilism are based on an " intuition pump ": if a person is like other mechanical things that are determined in their behavior such as a wind-up toy, a billiard ball, a puppet, or
22638-473: The view that the physical world can be explained entirely by physical law . The conflict between intuitively felt freedom and natural law arises when either causal closure or physical determinism ( nomological determinism ) is asserted. With causal closure, no physical event has a cause outside the physical domain, and with physical determinism, the future is determined entirely by preceding events (cause and effect). The puzzle of reconciling 'free will' with
22792-453: The work of one or more city departments. Commissioners also set policies and rules by which the city is operated. One is named chairperson of the body and is often called the mayor, although their power is equivalent to that of the other commissioners. The city manager is a response to the increasing complexity of urban problems that need management ability not often possessed by elected public officials. The answer has been to entrust most of
22946-438: The world is deterministic or not. Derk Pereboom has defended hard incompatibilism, identifying a variety of positions where free will is irrelevant to indeterminism/determinism, among them the following: Pereboom calls positions 3 and 4 soft determinism , position 1 a form of hard determinism , position 6 a form of classical libertarianism , and any position that includes having F as compatibilism . John Locke denied that
23100-477: Was a consolidated city-county, an independent city was legally separated from any county. Some municipalities are in multiple counties ; New York City is uniquely partitioned into five boroughs that are each coterminous with a county. In most U.S. counties, one town or city is designated as the county seat , and this is where the county government offices are located and where the board of commissioners or supervisors meets. In small counties, boards are chosen by
23254-468: Was formulated by Carl Ginet in the 1960s and has received much attention in the modern literature. The simplified argument runs along these lines: if determinism is true, then we have no control over the events of the past that determined our present state and no control over the laws of nature. Since we can have no control over these matters, we also can have no control over the consequences of them. Since our present choices and acts, under determinism, are
23408-544: Was introduced by Christian philosophy (4th century CE). It has traditionally meant (until the Enlightenment proposed its own meanings) lack of necessity in human will, so that "the will is free" meant "the will does not have to be such as it is". This requirement was universally embraced by both incompatibilists and compatibilists. The underlying questions are whether we have control over our actions, and if so, what sort of control, and to what extent. These questions predate
23562-497: Was the fact that nothing hindered us from doing or choosing something that made us have control over them". According to Susanne Bobzien , the notion of incompatibilist free will is perhaps first identified in the works of Alexander of Aphrodisias (3rd century CE): "what makes us have control over things is the fact that we are causally undetermined in our decision and thus can freely decide between doing/choosing or not doing/choosing them". The term "free will" ( liberum arbitrium )
23716-425: Was used by nearly all American cities. Its structure is like that of the state and national governments, with an elected mayor as chief of the executive branch and an elected council that represents the various neighborhoods forming the legislative branch. The mayor appoints heads of city departments and other officials (sometimes with the approval of the council ), has the power to veto over ordinances (the laws of
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