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Indoctrination, Coercion and Freedom of Will
Author(s) -
YAFFE GIDEON
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
philosophy and phenomenological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1933-1592
pISSN - 0031-8205
DOI - 10.1111/j.1933-1592.2003.tb00293.x
Subject(s) - coercion (linguistics) , indoctrination , face (sociological concept) , manipulator (device) , compliance (psychology) , law and economics , law , political science , psychology , sociology , computer science , social psychology , artificial intelligence , philosophy , robot , linguistics , ideology , politics , social science
Manipulation by another person often undermines freedom. To explain this, a distinction is drawn between two forms of manipulation: indoctrination is defined as causing another person to respond to reasons in a pattern that serves the manipulator's ends; coercion as supplying another person with reasons that, given the pattern in which he responds to reasons, lead him to act in ways that serve the manipulator's ends. It is argued that both forms of manipulation undermine freedom because manipulators track the compliance of their victims, while neutral causal mechanisms do not. Manipulators see to it that their victims comply even in the face of forces that threaten to derail them from the manipulator's desired course. It is suggested that this has an impact on freedom because part of what we desire in wanting to be free is the availability of forms of life very different from those we actually enjoy.