Christian List

Do group agents have free will? It is common to ascribe agency to some organized collectives, such as corporations, courts, and states, and to treat them as loci of responsibility, over and above their individual members. But sin...

The criteria for free will in AI systems are similar to those for free will in corporate agents. The key question is whether the kinds of non-biological entities that increasingly play decision-making roles in society (whether corporate or AI) should be viewed as intentional agents with free will.

Can AI systems have free will? - Synthese While there has been much discussion of whether AI systems could function as moral agents or acquire sentience, there has been very little discussion of whether AI systems could have free will. I sket...

Can AI systems have free will? - das fragt unser Mitglied
@clist.bsky.social im folgenden #OpenAccess - Artikel:

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#KI #AI #KuenstlicheIntelligenz #ArtificialIntelligence #FreierWille #FreeWill #Philosophy #Philosophie

Group Agency and Artificial Intelligence - Philosophy & Technology The aim of this exploratory paper is to review an under-appreciated parallel between group agency and artificial intelligence. As both phenomena involve non-human goal-directed agents that can make a ...

Here is a broader discussion of the parallels between corporate agency and AI. Both involve non-human goal-directed agents that affect the social world, often in high-stakes settings, and so they raise similar moral and regulatory challenges, which we must address for the sake of protecting humans.

Group Agency and Artificial Intelligence - Philosophy & Technology The aim of this exploratory paper is to review an under-appreciated parallel between group agency and artificial intelligence. As both phenomena involve non-human goal-directed agents that can make a ...

Here is a broader discussion of the parallels between corporate agency and AI. Both involve non-human goal-directed agents that affect the social world, often in high-stakes settings, and so they raise similar moral and regulatory challenges, which we must address for the sake of protecting humans.

Do group agents have free will? It is common to ascribe agency to some organized collectives, such as corporations, courts, and states, and to treat them as loci of responsibility, over and above their individual members. But sin...

The criteria for free will in AI systems are similar to those for free will in corporate agents. The key question is whether the kinds of non-biological entities that increasingly play decision-making roles in society (whether corporate or AI) should be viewed as intentional agents with free will.

Sebastian Bender I am an Assistant Professor (a tenure track "Juniorprofessor") at the Philosophy Department of University of Göttingen. Before coming to Göttingen, I held positions at Humboldt University in Berlin (w...

Thrilled to announce that Sebastian Bender is joining LMU Munich as Professor of Early Modern Philosophy. His expertise in 17th-18th c. metaphysics & epistemology (Leibniz, Spinoza, Kant) will boost our History of Philosophy section. Welcome, Sebastian! sebastianbender.net

Does free will exist? | Christian List | TEDxTUM YouTube video by TEDx Talks

Here is a repost of a talk on the picture of free will that lies in the background. Free will, I argue, requires intentional agency, alternative possibilities, and causal control. Free will is a multiply realizable capacity, which can occur not only in biological agents but also in artificial ones.

Can AI systems have free will? - Synthese While there has been much discussion of whether AI systems could function as moral agents or acquire sentience, there has been very little discussion of whether AI systems could have free will. I sket...

To determine whether an AI system has free will, we shouldn't look for any mysterious property, ask if the system is unpredictable, or expect its algorithms to be indeterministic. We should ask: are there explanatory reasons to view the system as a choice-making agent with alternative possibilities?

Can AI systems have free will? - Synthese While there has been much discussion of whether AI systems could function as moral agents or acquire sentience, there has been very little discussion of whether AI systems could have free will. I sket...

To determine whether an AI system has free will, we shouldn't look for any mysterious property, ask if the system is unpredictable, or expect its algorithms to be indeterministic. We should ask: are there explanatory reasons to view the system as a choice-making agent with alternative possibilities?

Can AI systems have free will? - Synthese While there has been much discussion of whether AI systems could function as moral agents or acquire sentience, there has been very little discussion of whether AI systems could have free will. I sket...

Here is now the published version: doi.org/10.1007/s112...

Another summer read from the MCMP.

Now forthcoming in Synthese: "Can AI systems have free will?", preprint available at: philsci-archive.pitt.edu/26166/3/Free...

From why-why-why to global justice Political philosopher Laura Valentini asks fundamental questions about human coexistence. Now she is receiving the Princess Therese of Bavaria Prize.

From why-why-why to global justice: LMU philosopher Laura Valentini asks fundamental questions about human coexistence. www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...

Feeling what others feel In a world battered by crises, what does empathy really mean? An interview with philosopher Monika Betzler on empathy and morality.

Feeling what others feel: In a world battered by crises, what does empathy really mean? An interview with philosopher Monika Betzler on empathy and morality.
www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...

Winners of Princess Therese of Bavaria Prize 2025 This year, the Princess Therese of Bavaria Foundation has recognized outstanding female researchers from the spheres of culture and the humanities at LMU.

LMU philosophers Prof. Monika Betzler and Prof. Laura Valentini have each been awarded a Princess Therese of Bavaria Prize 2025. www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...

At this year's MCMP Summer School, we had wonderful lectures by Professors Francesca Boccuni (San Raffaele), Hilary Greaves (Oxford), and Alyssa Ney (LMU). Many thanks to our speakers and especially to the fabulous participants from all over the world! www.mathsummer.philosophie.uni-muenchen.de

A quadrilemma for theories of consciousness Abstract. In this paper, I argue that no theory of consciousness can simultaneously respect four initially plausible metaphysical claims—namely ‘first-pers

Recently published: "A quadrilemma for theories of consciousness", by Christian List, Philosophical Quarterly, 2025, academic.oup.com/pq/article/7...

ABSTRACT. A probability aggregation rule assigns to each profile of probability functions across a group of individuals (representing their individual probability assignments to some propositions) a collective probability function (representing the group’s probability assignment). The rule is ‘non-manipulable’ if no group member can manipulate the collective probability for any proposition in the direction of his or her own probability by misrepresenting his or her probability function (‘strategic voting’). We show that, except in trivial cases, no probability aggregation rule satisfying two very mild conditions (non-dictatorship and consensus preservation) is non-manipulable.

Just accepted:

‘The Impossibility of Non-manipulable Probability Aggregation’
– Franz Dietrich & Christian List

Abstract in alt text or read the full paper here:
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

#philsci #philsky

This is a significant development.

YouTube video by The Dissenter #419 Christian List: Why Free Will Is Real

In episode 419, I talk with Dr. Christian List about his book, Why Free Will Is Real. #Philosophy

youtu.be/XHmdhDjLGwA

Do group agents have free will? It is common to ascribe agency to some organized collectives, such as corporations, courts, and states, and to treat them as loci of responsibility, over and above their individual members. But sin...

Recently published: "Do group agents have free will?", by Christian List, Inquiry, 2025 (open access) doi.org/10.1080/0020...

The University of Vienna is hiring a full Professor in Philosophy of Mind! Spread the word! philjobs.org/job/show/29293

As ocean acidification ramps up, experts call for speedy ocean protection Ocean health is moving into a danger zone, with rampant human-caused carbon dioxide emissions having already pushed ocean acidification levels beyond safe limits in large swaths of the marine environm...

Ocean health is moving into a danger zone, with rampant human-caused carbon dioxide emissions having already pushed ocean acidification levels beyond safe limits in large swaths of the marine environment. 🌊
news.mongabay.com/2025/06/as-o...

Is Brexit the will of the people? The answer is not quite that simple Christian List looks at majoritarianism, Condorcet’s paradox and the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

On the 9th anniversary of the 2016 Brexit referendum, it's worth reposting a 2019 blog post with some social-choice-theoretically inspired comments on the referendum. blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2019/...

A quadrilemma for theories of consciousness Abstract. In this paper, I argue that no theory of consciousness can simultaneously respect four initially plausible metaphysical claims—namely ‘first-pers

I'm sympathetic to first-personal facts so I was interested to read this paper by Christian List about them academic.oup.com/pq/article/7...; at first I was leaning towards rejecting "one world", as does he, but now I've realized that gets you things interacting with their non-worldmates so idk

Is Brexit the will of the people? The answer is not quite that simple Christian List looks at majoritarianism, Condorcet’s paradox and the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

On the 9th anniversary of the 2016 Brexit referendum, it's worth reposting a 2019 blog post with some social-choice-theoretically inspired comments on the referendum. blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2019/...

APS Awards 2025 Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy of Science, largest book prize in Philosophy, to Dr. Alyssa Ney | American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society has awarded the 2025 Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy to Dr. Alyssa Ney for her book The World in the Wave Function: A Metaphysics for Quantum Physics (Oxford Univ...

Congratulations to my brilliant colleague Alyssa Ney (now here on Bluesky @alyssaney.bsky.social) for winning the Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy of Science!

www.amphilsoc.org/news/aps-awa...

Do our observations make reality happen? Finally answering the most-vexed question in quantum theory might mean redefining what is real.

Newly published: "Do our observations make reality happen?", by Alyssa Ney, Nature, 2025, www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Does free will exist? | Christian List | TEDxTUM YouTube video by TEDx Talks

Christian List explains it nicely. There is no contradiction between the idea of free will and the fact that our choices are part of the causal chains of natural laws. What we call conscious choice is indeed our choice, but it doesn't mean it's detached from the microphysical processes of our brain.

YouTube video by TEDx Talks Does free will exist? | Christian List | TEDxTUM

Gibt es einen freien Willen?

Dieser Frage widmet sich BAdW-Mitglied @clist.bsky.social in seiner Forschung - und auch hier im TED talk!

Damit ein wunderschönes langes Wochenende allen! Mit vielen freien Willensentscheidungen!
☕️🍰🛌🚴‍♀️🕺🎳🆓