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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 3 page paper examines the idea of free will and how it relates to Frunkfurt's concpts of first and second order desires. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RG13_SA1134frn.rtf
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a second order desire is a desire about the desire of the first order (Geirsson & Losonsky, 1998). Geirsson & Losonsky (1998) write: "According to Frankfurt, we act freely if
and only if we do as we desire to and, in addition, have a second-order desire to act on that desire" (408). The way Honderich (1995) explains second order desire
is that people have the capacity not to merely have desires but to have motives, desires, or preferences and also to either want to have, or reject, certain desires, preferences,
or motives. Speaks (2006) provides an example and says that a first order desire may be to eat a bag of chips and is associated with an individuals will
if the action culminates in eating the chips. However, a second-order desire may be in the form of a thought that eating chips is not good and rather, a person
should desire to eat celery (Speaks, 2006). Speaks (2006) explains that such an example can be turned into a second-order volition if in fact the individual desires not just to
desire celery, but that the desire for it will be effective in eating the celery rather than the chips. In other words, the person wants to want the celery and
does turn things around. The concept is difficult to understand unless one puts it into an appropriate context. Speaks (2006) writes about the fact that when looking at the future,
it seems to be fixed or beyond ones control, and this is a deterministic view that suggests human beings do not have free will. Frankfurt however does believe that human
beings have free will. The free will versus determinism argument is quite pertinent here. Some philosophers believe that everything is determined, or that fate is in charge, and that whatever
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