Freedom of the Will and the Concept of the Person - 697 Words

Freedom of the Will and the Concept of the Person Harry Frankfurt essay â€Å"Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person† is centered around two major ideas. First is a person’s will is a set of effective first-order desires, and the second is that a person is a creature that has second-order volitions. Frankfurt offes the concept of a person vested with first-order desires and second-order desires which play the major role in decision making process. First-order desire are starightforward. These are desires simple in nature and resmeble animal desires to eat, sleep, feel comforatable. Second-order desires are complex and arise from analysys, comaprison, and identification. These desires are human beings phenomena which animals do not have. Second order desires not only create notion of accountability for one’s actions, but also can be diferent in meanings and affect human consciences in a variety of ways. The link between two kinds of desires is Frankfurt distinction between a persona and a wanton. A â€Å"person† in Frankfrut theory has a second order volition which is a conflict resolution between first order desires and create a will, while a â€Å"wanton† has a lack of concern about first order desires â€Å"thus incapable of being concerned about his will.† Freedom of the will is the choice between first order desires which creates a will. It is not limited by freedom of action, it is rather a question of whether it is a will weShow MoreRelatedFreedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person by Harry Frankfurt 1226 Words   |  5 Pages In â€Å"Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person†, Harry Frankfurt illustrates the concepts of freedom of will and freedom of action, but more importantly, Frankfurt has refined the compatibilism theory. Compatibilism allows the freedom of will to exist in the deterministic world. 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