369 | Gregg Caruso on Living Well Without Free Will
September 28, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readIn a 2022 survey of professional philosophers, compatibilism—the view that free will and determinism are compatible—was the most popular position, with libertarianism (the view that free will requires indeterminism) in second place and free will skepticism trailing in third. But philosopher Gregg Caruso, a leading free will skeptic, thinks his camp is the one on the rise. On Sean Carroll’s Mindscape podcast, Caruso laid out his case: it’s not about determinism versus indeterminism, but about whether anyone ever truly deserves praise or blame for what they do. His new book, How to Live Well Without Free Will, argues that we can keep everything that matters—love, friendship, creativity, moral reasoning—while abandoning the concept of "basic desert" moral responsibility. And that shift, he believes, would lead to a more humane and effective criminal justice system, and a less punitive society overall.
What "Free Will" Actually Means in This Debate
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:00) **Introduction: Why This Conversation Matters** - Sean Carroll frames the free will debate, distinguishing terminological disputes from the substantive implications for moral responsibility and society.
- 2 (06:01) **Defining Free Will: Basic Desert Moral Responsibility** - Caruso offers his precise definition, centering on a specific kind of moral responsibility.
- 3 (08:57) **The Brain Tumor Case: A Classic Illustration** - A real-world example of a brain tumor causing pedophilic behavior, used to test intuitions about control and responsibility.
- 4 (13:11) **Why Determinism vs. Indeterminism Is a Red Herring** - Caruso explains why the classic debate over determinism misses the real issue for free will skeptics.
- 5 (17:51) **The Landscape of Free Will Positions** - A high-level map of compatibilism, libertarianism, and hard incompatibilism for newcomers.
- 6 (22:24) **Who Believes What? Professional Philosophers’ Views** - A quick look at the popularity of different positions in academic philosophy.
- 7 (24:55) **Two Paths to Skepticism: Neuroscience vs. Philosophy** - Distinguishing scientific arguments (like Libet) from philosophical arguments for rejecting free will.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
The worry about debates over free will is that they degenerate into semantics -- what do you mean by "free will," really? But there are important substantive issues that shouldn't be ignored. Do people deserve blame for doing wrong things? Can we make choices that create meaning for our lives? Philosopher Gregg Caruso denies the reality of free will, but is in favor of making good choices, as he discusses in his new book How to Live Well Without Free Will.
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Gregg Caruso received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the City University of New York. He is currently Professor of Applied Ethics and Management and Director of the Patrick J. Waide Center for Applied Ethics at Fairfield University, and Scientific Advisor, Center for Justice and Mental Well-Being, Nova Institute for Health. Among his awards are the Joseph B. Gittler Award from the American Philosophical Association.
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