Nietzsche: Reject Free Will, Become Who You Are | Brian Leiter

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  • Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
  • An interview with professor Brian Leiter on Nietzsche's critique of free will.
    Some links to further guide your study:
    * Join my email list to be notified of future episodes: johnathanbi.com
    * Full transcript: open.substack.com/pub/johnath...
    Companion lectures & interviews:
    * Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality Explained: • Masters vs. Slaves | N...
    Professor Leiter's books relevant to this interview (affiliate):
    * Nietzsche on Morality: amzn.to/3x4QQMc
    * My book notes: www.johnathanbi.com/p/nietzsc...
    * Moral Psychology with Nietzsche: amzn.to/3yL9fy3
    * My book notes: www.johnathanbi.com/p/moral-p...
    TIMESTAMPS
    00:00:00 1. Introduction
    00:02:16 1.1 Introduction: Nietzsche’s Position on Free Will
    00:05:16 1.2 Introduction: Contemporary Positions on Free Will
    00:12:31 2.1 Arguments Against Free Will: Psychology & Language
    00:18:13 2.2 Arguments Against Free Will: Phenomenology
    00:29:10 2.3 Arguments Against Free Will: Genetics & the Unconscious
    00:40:18 2.4 Arguments Against Free Will: My (Naive) Position on Free Will
    00:44:23 3.1 Prescriptions: Implications in Legal Philosophy
    00:48:15 3.2 Prescriptions: Is Free Will a Noble Lie?
    00:50:34 3.3 Prescriptions: “Become Who You Are”

Комментарии • 91

  • @bi.johnathan
    @bi.johnathan  Месяц назад +24

    Howdy all. This is my first interview so would love to hear some feedback. What do you think of this format? How can I improve? Let me know in the comments!
    Some links to further guide your study:
    * Join my email list to be notified of future episodes: johnathanbi.com
    * Full transcript: open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-brian-leiter-interview?r=l66v&
    Companion lectures & interviews:
    * Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality Explained: ruclips.net/video/M0w2eQ-FcEA/видео.html
    Professor Leiter's books relevant to this interview (affiliate):
    * Nietzsche on Morality: amzn.to/3x4QQMc
    * My book notes: www.johnathanbi.com/p/nietzsche-on-morality-by-brian-leiter
    * Moral Psychology with Nietzsche: amzn.to/3yL9fy3
    * My book notes: www.johnathanbi.com/p/moral-psychology-with-nietzsche-by
    TIMESTAMPS
    00:00:00 1. Introduction
    00:02:16 1.1 Introduction: Nietzsche’s Position on Free Will
    00:05:16 1.2 Introduction: Contemporary Positions on Free Will
    00:12:31 2.1 Arguments Against Free Will: Psychology & Language
    00:18:13 2.2 Arguments Against Free Will: Phenomenology
    00:29:10 2.3 Arguments Against Free Will: Genetics & the Unconscious
    00:40:18 2.4 Arguments Against Free Will: My (Naive) Position on Free Will
    00:44:23 3.1 Prescriptions: Implications in Legal Philosophy
    00:48:15 3.2 Prescriptions: Is Free Will a Noble Lie?
    00:50:34 3.3 Prescriptions: “Become Who You Are”

    • @user-um4di5qm8p
      @user-um4di5qm8p Месяц назад +3

      Sir, thank you for all the hard work. Your lectures on Rene Girard were truly EPIC!!

    • @bi.johnathan
      @bi.johnathan  Месяц назад +1

      Thank you for engaging with my work!

    • @raketemensch6116
      @raketemensch6116 Месяц назад +2

      Excellent, seems like the most natural format for you.

    • @davidcasey1442
      @davidcasey1442 Месяц назад +2

      I think this is a rare format: You seldomly see someone talking about a topic without trying to tell a narrative or trying to contextualize it into justifying their own philosophy. You are just here to learn.

    • @Spokenwisdom1
      @Spokenwisdom1 Месяц назад +2

      Allow us to breathe. The lecture was like a thanksgiving meal.

  • @tomsterdaniels
    @tomsterdaniels Месяц назад +25

    Love the way you frame these talks in your introductions, especially when you bring in the personal element of how the works influenced your own choices. Really helps turn the material from abstract theory into actionable meaning.

  • @Lexthebarbarian
    @Lexthebarbarian Месяц назад +16

    Oh man, I "like" before I watch because I know this is going to be good! This is what internet and youtube is for!

  • @alisonbell7473
    @alisonbell7473 Месяц назад +4

    love this, professor shed a lot of light and the interview flowed so well! will share with all my friends

  • @AndrewFraga-jm5yw
    @AndrewFraga-jm5yw Месяц назад +3

    I just found you on RUclips, probably my philosophy algorithm. I was fascinated by your Girard lectures. These interviews seem to be amazing as well. I can't wait to watch you grow to a million subscribers.

  • @visalserei
    @visalserei Месяц назад +12

    Until you make the unconscious, conscious. You will continue to call it fate and destiny.

  • @billlumbergh6294
    @billlumbergh6294 Месяц назад +2

    Great interview..
    And the music also fits so well.

  • @tejaswibhavaraju9024
    @tejaswibhavaraju9024 Месяц назад

    Can't wait for the next lecture!

  • @darillus1
    @darillus1 Месяц назад +4

    I have done that" says my memory. I could not have done that - says my pride and remains implacable. Finally - my memory gives up- Nietzsche

  • @physics1518
    @physics1518 Месяц назад +14

    I'd love to not believe in free will, but unfortunately I'm genetically determined to believe in it.

    • @tumelonkonyane8015
      @tumelonkonyane8015 28 дней назад

      Huh? That is a contradicting statement

    • @physics1518
      @physics1518 27 дней назад +1

      @@tumelonkonyane8015 Correct. It's self-contradictory.

    • @gamma4524
      @gamma4524 21 час назад

      @@physics1518 it really isnt ,its a refutation of the absolute lack of choice ,besides that Nietzsches system of Drives and Wills is exceptional at explaining and describing human behavior and psychology.
      Where he fails is his total lack of "choice" if which we believe we "cant trust our" conclusion because we "cant" do anything. We only will do things and wont do anything besides.

  • @Suspicious1432
    @Suspicious1432 23 дня назад

    Thank you so much for the great discussion. I realize how Nietzsche perhaps accepted amor fati- by giving up free will and the inevitable greatness or uniqueness as an individual.

  • @p-p.p
    @p-p.p 16 дней назад

    I thoroughly enjoyed this video and have learned a great deal from it, even without reading Nietzsche. I conduct extensive research in the academic realm and have come to understand that the Christian religion was established by King James to distinguish it from the Catholic Church ("Vatican"), driven by a quest for power.
    I appreciate the presentation and your perspectives. However, I believe an important aspect is missing: the discussion on how technology now governs "free will." People often overlook that modern technology can influence others through light. Previously, influence was exerted through electric waves, but now it is through light.
    This video has inspired me to read Nietzsche's books most definitely.

    • @jcmorgan26
      @jcmorgan26 4 дня назад

      You're very misinformed about the Christian religion... King James authorised the King James Version of the bible to be in opposition to the Catholic bible of the time, but it wasn't King James that "established Christianity"... that would be Jesus Christ. Catholicism IS Christianity; if you're using the term Christianity as a stand-in for "Protestantism" (as so many do under the false impression that Catholics aren't Christians) then you're still incorrect because Protestantism came about long before King James authorised the KJV with the Reformation.
      You may be getting confused with Henry VIII who formally created the Church of England and rejected papal authority after the Catholic Church refused to annul his marriage

  • @jeancarrenpao
    @jeancarrenpao Месяц назад +1

    Thank you ❤🌹🙏

  • @user-dr6ks7tv2b
    @user-dr6ks7tv2b 25 дней назад

    Keep up this kind of contents! As if I am included in the discussion.

  • @bowandstring3482
    @bowandstring3482 Месяц назад +2

    Jonathan! I have been agreeably drawn into your world by your series on Girard, whose work arrested me upon first meeting and continues to reveal aspects of the reality that presents itself to me. Thank you for that rich gift!
    I recently took in your Nietzsche lecture and interview with Leiter and have this feeling that you are teetering on your own leap of faith in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. I sense this because of your understandable focus on Christianity--the ideas and acts of the disciples from the day of New Testament Pentecost to the present--as opposed to Christ himself. Understandable because the opportunities for critique are far more rich than on that divine figure whose teaching and example stop us in every track we make, requiring everything of ourselves in order to participate in his redemptive project.
    Seriously, I thank God for you and pray that a-mazing grace will always be there for you as you continue to unpack this gift of life.

    • @bi.johnathan
      @bi.johnathan  Месяц назад +2

      Thank you. I am indeed still seeking (and quite torn) … I would like to believe but do not yet

    • @henrytep8884
      @henrytep8884 Месяц назад

      @@bi.johnathan You should have a conversation with John Vervaeke. That would definitely be beneficial to everyone involved including the audience and viewers. Loving your content, I'm about to call you Philosophy Zaddy.

  • @BenStowell
    @BenStowell 4 дня назад

    I don't think free will is necessary to make choices or to live one's life. When I am choosing, I deliberate because I have to. I want the best outcome, so it's in my own interest to deliberate as much and as well as I can. Because I am the kind of being that wants the best outcome, it's inevitable that I will deliberate as I do. I do not choose my knowledge or intelligence; if I could I would will my knowledge and intelligence to be greater than they are. So I am forced to deliberate as I do, and thus my choice is fated. Knowing my choice is fated does not change how I choose. I was always going to try to make the best choice I could with what I had.

  • @learningwithharry4996
    @learningwithharry4996 Месяц назад

    Thank you for this. I learned a lot from Leiter's Nietzsche's articles on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. As for feedback, just keep doing what you are doing here and follow the Bryan Magee model. Find interesting guests and let them speak.

    • @bi.johnathan
      @bi.johnathan  Месяц назад

      Thanks. His interviews and sugrue’s lectures were big influences

  • @AxelAxe
    @AxelAxe 19 дней назад

    Jonathan this is an outstanding interview. I hope we can meet soon and do an episode together. I would love to have you on my show

  • @Redz-zl4ki
    @Redz-zl4ki Месяц назад +3

    There are so many videos I want to watch on youtube, but I chose this. Is that not free will?

  • @MajorasMaskMailman
    @MajorasMaskMailman Месяц назад +3

    Yikes, your jumping in at 11:04 was a little clunky. It didn't sound like you actually thought was Professor Leiter was saying was fascinating and that you just wanted to say your thing.

  • @taylanulukr9081
    @taylanulukr9081 Месяц назад

    I would love to listen your dialogue with Sam Harris about free will, Buddhism, meditation, morality and consciousness.

  • @youtubecanal
    @youtubecanal Месяц назад +2

    That statement remind me Advaita Vedanta and Zen Budism philosophy.

  • @MrDziuka
    @MrDziuka Месяц назад +1

    Free will is everything, you make compromises often but it's not like your life is out of control. I am in control over my life and at least a big part. It is a very nice feeling, very satisfying and happy. Find your own balance people, that would be my advice if you look for one. To work out what really makes you feel happy sometimes takes time. Just be patient and go with the flow of life, without switching off. I lived in communism, be careful when you are talking about it or a similar ideology.

    • @lucacuradossi1040
      @lucacuradossi1040 Месяц назад +1

      Not believing in free will can also be a nice feeling

    • @gmw3083
      @gmw3083 Месяц назад

      The no freewill argument is the last refuge of those who get on a track early in life. They start looking back at some point and can't fathom that it could have happened any other way.
      When you live a life full of mistakes, and manage to learn from some of them, it becomes apparent that freewill is part of learning and growth.
      This guy and Robert Saplowsky will be back to ride the wheel of samsara again.

    • @user-zh1th8sz2l
      @user-zh1th8sz2l Месяц назад

      @@gmw3083 Sapolsky's a joke pretty much. In any case, free will is a fundamental faculty of conscious life, so obvious and abundant that it requires no explanation or justification. And it doesn't matter how shitty your life goes, you have just as much free will as anyone else. There's no connection, no overlap whatsoever between one's lot in life and the existence and possession of free will. Absolute dead zero.

    • @user-es9qo9hx2r
      @user-es9qo9hx2r 8 дней назад

      Your life is in control because of circumstances, not your free will. When I look back, almost everything (good or bad) that happened to me is not fundamentally due to my free will. Eerie.

  • @Delta19G
    @Delta19G Месяц назад +2

    Is free will a bad thing? Or why is my experience saying that my thought proceeded an action

  • @leroykid1971
    @leroykid1971 Месяц назад +2

    What helped save free will for me, is thinking about how the divine will is the source, and it isn't a hypothetical willingness, as God is simple with no parts or potential, yet still free. In other words, free will isn't the power to choose between plurality, but to choose existence in-itself for-itself and by-itself, the divine essense.

  • @georgeluke6382
    @georgeluke6382 Месяц назад +3

    There's something overlapping here with reconciling oneself to God's determination of all things, and how this frees one to become who one is as an image of God, in the branch of Christendom I come from (broadly Protestant Calvinism).
    Do you have any resources on whether Nietzche is critiquing a particular kind of Christian theism, or Christian theism writ large, as he critiques the freedom of the will?

    • @bi.johnathan
      @bi.johnathan  Месяц назад

      Good connection .. but not aware of any books

  • @refoundable
    @refoundable Месяц назад +2

    Battle of the wills

  • @ALavin-en1kr
    @ALavin-en1kr Месяц назад +2

    A gunslinger said: “Be who you are, because if you ain’t who you are, then you are who you ain’t.” Maybe it would be better for the gunslinger if he wasn’t a gunslinger. Maybe he could have been s sherif instead and put gunslingers in the slammer where they belonged.
    There is good and bad in our dual system, it is better to choose the good, as choosing the bad is going with the weak force which is operating from a position of weakness rather than from a position of strength and ultimately peters out as does the person who chooses it.
    There is also the Middle Way which Religion, Philosophy, and Psychology recommend which is negotiating a path between the opposites; the dualities of our dual system, as aligning with one of the dualities or the other is likely to constellate its opposite. As in our dual system opposites exist and operate in tandem. We are truly are between the devil and the deep blue sea.

  • @NoW_Is_TimE
    @NoW_Is_TimE 23 дня назад

    I just found you this my second video you are a modern day profit life is absolutely wonderful thank you God as I get closer to you and my true powers.

  • @07bmarshall
    @07bmarshall 12 дней назад

    I'm not sure I will read another philosophy book after this one.

  • @stevendelay5398
    @stevendelay5398 Месяц назад +1

    Ought one to "give up" the idea of free will? Impossible: either because there is no free will, in which case one couldn't truly "choose" to give it up (for all of our choices, including that one, would be illusory), or else because we do have free will, in which case there is no way to escape being free (we are, as Sartre would say, condemned to it).

    • @tilelate9718
      @tilelate9718 Месяц назад

      Or condemned to merely feel like we're free

  • @questioneverything7011
    @questioneverything7011 Месяц назад

    Do we actually have freewill ? 🧐
    Interesting conversation.

  • @youtubecanal
    @youtubecanal Месяц назад +2

    After hear and poundering the arguments, I think the "do we have free will or not" is an irrelevant question.

  • @jcmorgan26
    @jcmorgan26 4 дня назад

    I think, like with many things, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Each of us has a nature, it likely has an immutable aspect but is also influenced by our upbringing, environment, etc, but each of us has the freedom to deny our basic nature and make a different choice. This is the basis of many religious ideas; Christianity emphasises the fallen nature of humanity and our proclivity to sin but commands us to deny ourselves and aspire to the standard set by God, that humans cannot attain due to our fallen nature (hence the need for a saviour in Jesus Christ).

  • @timothyminton9435
    @timothyminton9435 27 дней назад

    Pretty cool channel.

  • @Xanadu2025
    @Xanadu2025 Месяц назад +2

    There are no evil people? Ridiculous!

  • @darillus1
    @darillus1 Месяц назад

    Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions - Epictetus

    • @bi.johnathan
      @bi.johnathan  Месяц назад

      Nietzsche would say that Epicurus doesn’t go far enough.

    • @darillus1
      @darillus1 Месяц назад

      @@bi.johnathan I was quoting Epictetus, not Epicurus...and Epictetus would say Nietzsche is straying too far into not having almost no control whatsoever

    • @bi.johnathan
      @bi.johnathan  Месяц назад

      @@darillus1 ah my error, misread ... long day!

  • @katlegokoopman3606
    @katlegokoopman3606 25 дней назад

    Some action are emotionally based or influenced,emotions take over you are not in control,that's when angry and do something bad when come down you regret you won't do it on your right mind.when calm down come to your natural state you regret because was not you was your emotions. Emotions is a thing of the body ego (i identify the ego as body because can be a driver of action and emotions)not will.emotion are perspectives weather you consider something bad or good.there are people who sell drugs in their minds is good in someones mind is bad
    .good of bad is morality above is understanding,bad or good perspective.The core word colour Grey.black and white merged. Grey is understanding instead of judging if we go a extra mile you can put compassion.

  • @NoW_Is_TimE
    @NoW_Is_TimE 23 дня назад

    I like the free will topic for example Im not going into an environment with my girl whos a 10. Surrounded by vultures to hit on her while I'm only 5'8 140 lbs I physically cannot destroy the men larger then me if needed physically. Therfore I dont have the free will to go to said environment wit my 10 to be able to defend her/us in case of bigger male threats or disrespect.

  • @MajorasMaskMailman
    @MajorasMaskMailman 29 дней назад

    35:53

  • @jayBisht0001
    @jayBisht0001 Месяц назад

    1. Free will is there when you find out who you are, beforehand it's just predicted.

    • @jayBisht0001
      @jayBisht0001 Месяц назад

      2. You guys have to check spirituality not psychology.

    • @jayBisht0001
      @jayBisht0001 Месяц назад

      3. Check out *Jason Gragory*, for this concept

    • @jayBisht0001
      @jayBisht0001 Месяц назад

      3. Try Bhagvat Geeta as a philosophy

  • @criticalthinker-ys7vt
    @criticalthinker-ys7vt 25 дней назад +1

    Now i understand why people always talk about responsibility and try to make you responsible, they wanna punish you and blame you.

  • @encounteringthetrinity
    @encounteringthetrinity Месяц назад +1

    True freedom is not the ability to choose but the inability do do anything other than one’s unique personal calling. Christ (for those who are Christian’s) has no gnomic (deliberative) will. He could not NOT do the truth, so never needed to decide. So plugged into the Source (God), he did the truth naturally, without remainder…

  • @katlegokoopman3606
    @katlegokoopman3606 25 дней назад

    You guys go im circles, some thoughts influenced by environment what people think and talk program your mind.Which put people on autopilot.People think about things that happen around them that being said or done around them.But if one willfully do things if I tell you something you accept or do it immediately and think about it first that is free will.If i choose to put up your hand up you will then put it up then you access to your will if Brush yout teeth in the morning subconsciously then is not free will is what the body is used to.If willfully with consciously brush your teeth then is will.will and body can be separate you can brush you teeth and think about something else but if brush you teeth and think about brushing you teeth you you do it willfully.

  • @nunu4evaaa
    @nunu4evaaa 24 дня назад

    Ofc theirs no freewill. This comment proves it.

  • @IFYOUWANTITGOGETIT
    @IFYOUWANTITGOGETIT 9 дней назад

    Look up free will Robert Sapolsky

  • @dadsonworldwide3238
    @dadsonworldwide3238 Месяц назад

    You mean soul agency isn't. Free will inertia Is the actor or action of person. You can measure free will .
    Niechtze gives up subjective properties and idealism for physicalism.
    Soul agency correlated with eternal cosmos, soul agency drives free will inertia frame of reference.
    Personal responses, action is not individual.. English is a triality German and catholic dualism.
    Their Is a soul individual
    They're are personal responses and measureable free will mobility
    Form and shape is there also
    Niechtze despised uk & America .
    But American founders choice of free will term Is because it's measured medium

  • @nostrasimpus8359
    @nostrasimpus8359 21 день назад +1

    Bro you gotta turn it down like 2 notches. Youre not as smart as you think you are and its off-putting when you constantly interrupt a guest

  • @mickymao7313
    @mickymao7313 Месяц назад

    Overdone 😂

  • @AM-di8if
    @AM-di8if Месяц назад +2

    You might lose viewers due to the loud intro music that drowns your voice.

  • @ALavin-en1kr
    @ALavin-en1kr Месяц назад

    I don’t agree with this. Animals operate entirely according to instinct. Humans have both instinct and reason. What is the purpose or reason if it is not to negotiate a path, or choice, between our instinctive and our rational or cognitive self? It is in error and downgrades the human to say we do not have free will.
    The scope of our free will is circumscribed. For example, we cannot cause a thunderstorm to end by our command but we have much within our scope where we can exercise our will and judgement. To suggest that as humans we are automatons is abhorrent.

    • @bi.johnathan
      @bi.johnathan  Месяц назад +3

      Leiter argues that our conscious life is incredibly shallow and limited in perceiving what is “really” driving us. Ie. we aren’t conscious / reason cannot even access our deepest drives

    • @ALavin-en1kr
      @ALavin-en1kr Месяц назад

      @@bi.johnathan Reason is a function, it negotiates a path between opposites and helps us to maintain a balance between wants, needs, and the environment. It helps us negotiate a path between the rational and the non-rational.

  • @chetanyadav271
    @chetanyadav271 Месяц назад +1

    Best thing that happened to me Dis month!
    A genuine and true admirer of your work!❤️🤍✨️

    • @bi.johnathan
      @bi.johnathan  Месяц назад +1

      Just the beginning! Thanks for engaging with my work.

    • @chetanyadav271
      @chetanyadav271 Месяц назад

      @@bi.johnathan I'll truly cherish dis reply!

    • @alexmarinica5310
      @alexmarinica5310 Месяц назад

      @@bi.johnathan Is it your work, or is it the work?