Thomas Nadelhoffer
Biographic Data
| ID | 1003565 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Thomas Nadelhoffer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Thomas |
| FAMILY NAME | Nadelhoffer |
| SIGNATURE | NADELHOFFER T |
| AFFILIATIONS | College of Charleston |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8038-7177 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 24 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Thinking differently: Neurodivergent traits and responses to thought experiments in philosophers and the general population
Philosophers have long speculated that individual differences in temperament influence philosophical thinking, yet empirical research has rarely explored the role of neurodivergent traits in this domain. In this large online study (N = 1,254), we investigated whether participants with training in philosophy differ from the general population when it comes to six psychological traits—autism, ADHD, aphantasia, anendophasia, anauralia, and represent…
Not What I Expected! Feeling of Surprise Differentially Mediates Effect of Personal Control on Attributions of Free will and Responsibility
Commonsense morality and the bearable automaticity of being
Some research suggests that moral behavior can be strongly influenced by trivial features of the environment of which we are completely unaware. Philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists have argued that these findings undermine our commonsense notions of agency and responsibility, both of which emphasize the role of practical reasoning and conscious deliberation in action. We present the results of four vignette-based studies (N=1,437) de…
Intuitions About Free Will and the Failure to Comprehend Determinism
Chronic Pain, Mere-Differences, and Disability Variantism
While some philosophers believe disabilities constitute a “bad-difference,” others think they constitute a “mere-difference” (Barnes 2016). On this latter view, while disabilities may create certain hardships, having a disability is not bad in itself. I argue that chronic pain problematizes this disability-neutral view. In doing so, I first survey the literature on chronic pain (§1). Then, I argue that Barnes’s mere-difference view cannot adequat…
Folk psychology and proximal intentions
There is a longstanding debate in philosophy concerning the relationship between intention and intentional action. According to the Single Phenomenon View, while one need not intend to A in order to A intentionally, one nevertheless needs to have an A-relevant intention. This view has recently come under criticism by those who think that one can A intentionally without any relevant intention at all. On this view, neither distal nor proximal inten…
Piercing the Smoke Screen: Dualism, Free Will, and Christianity
Research on the folk psychology of free will suggests that people believe free will is incompatible with determinism and that human decision-making cannot be exhaustively characterized by physical processes. Some suggest that certain elements of Western cultural history, especially Christianity, have helped to entrench these beliefs in the folk conceptual economy. Thus, on the basis of this explanation, one should expect to find three things: (1)…
Folk intuitions and the conditional ability to do otherwise
In a series of pre-registered studies, we explored (a) the difference between people’s intuitions about indeterministic scenarios and their intuitions about deterministic scenarios, (b) the difference between people’s intuitions about indeterministic scenarios and their intuitions about neurodeterministic scenarios (that is, scenarios where the determinism is described at the neurological level), (c) the difference between people’s intuitions abo…
Does encouraging a belief in determinism increase cheating? Reconsidering the value of believing in free will
Be it ever so humble: Proposing a dual-dimension account and measurement of humility
What does it mean to be humble? We argue that humility is an epistemically and ethically aligned state of awareness – the experience of ourselves as a small part of a larger universe and as one among a host of other morally relevant beings. So conceived, humility can be operationalized and measured along the dual dimensions of low self-focus and high other-focus and is distinct from other related constructs (e.g., modesty and open-mindedness). We…
Pure Retributivism and the Problem of Psychopathy: A Preliminary Investigation / Retributivismo Puro e o Problema da Psicopatia: Uma Investigação Preliminar
My present goal is to explore some possible responses pure (or strict) retributivists might have to the gathering of empirical data on psychopaths. In addressing this issue, I will first briefly examine the strides researchers have recently made in understanding the nature of psychopathy, paying particular attention to work on the neural and genetic components of the disorder (§1). Then, I will survey several ways that a pure retributivist might …
The free will inventory: Measuring beliefs about agency and responsibility
The Future of Punishment
The twelve essays in this volume aim at providing philosophers neuroscientists, psychologists, and legal theorists with an opportunity to examine the cluster of related issues that will need to be addressed as scholars struggle to come to grips with the picture of human agency being pieced together by researchers in the biosciences
Neurolaw and Neuroprediction: Potential Promises and Perils
Neuroscience has been proposed for use in the legal system for purposes of mind reading, assessment of responsibility, and prediction of misconduct. Each of these uses has both promises and perils, and each raises issues regarding the admissibility of neuroscientific evidence
Temperament and intuition: A commentary on Feltz and Cokely
Desire, Foresight, Intentions, and Intentional Actions: Probing Folk Intuitions
A number of philosophers working under the rubric of "experimental philosophy" have recently begun focusing on analyzing the concepts of ordinary language and investigating the intuitions of laypersons in an empirically informed way. In a series of papers these philosophers – who often work in collaboration with psychologists – have presented the results of empirical studies aimed at proving folk intuitions in areas as diverse as ethics, epistemo…
Is Incompatibilism Intuitive
Incompatibilists believe free will is impossible if determinism is true, and they often claim that this view is supported by ordinary intuitions. We challenge the claim that incompatibilism is intuitive to most laypersons and discuss the significance of this challenge to the free will debate. After explaining why incompatibilists should want their view to accord with pretheoretical intuitions, we suggest that determining whether incompatibilism i…
Surveying Freedom: Folk Intuitions about free will and moral responsibility
Philosophers working in the nascent field of ‘experimental philosophy’ have begun using methods borrowed from psychology to collect data about folk intuitions concerning debates ranging from action theory to ethics to epistemology. In this paper we present the results of our attempts to apply this approach to the free will debate, in which philosophers on opposing sides claim that their view best accounts for and accords with folk intuitions. Aft…
Is Incompatibilism Intuitive
Incompatibilists believe free will is impossible if determinism is true, and they often claim that this view is supported by ordinary intuitions. We challenge the claim that incompatibilism is intuitive to most laypersons and discuss the significance of this challenge to the free will debate. After explaining why incompatibilists should want their view to accord with pretheoretical intuitions, we suggest that determining whether incompatibilism i…
Desire, Foresight, Intentions, and Intentional Actions: Probing Folk Intuitions
A number of philosophers working under the rubric of "experimental philosophy" have recently begun focusing on analyzing the concepts of ordinary language and investigating the intuitions of laypersons in an empirically informed way. In a series of papers these philosophers – who often work in collaboration with psychologists – have presented the results of empirical studies aimed at proving folk intuitions in areas as diverse as ethics, epistemo…
Surveying Freedom: Folk Intuitions about free will and moral responsibility
Philosophers working in the nascent field of ‘experimental philosophy’ have begun using methods borrowed from psychology to collect data about folk intuitions concerning debates ranging from action theory to ethics to epistemology. In this paper we present the results of our attempts to apply this approach to the free will debate, in which philosophers on opposing sides claim that their view best accounts for and accords with folk intuitions. Aft…
Desire, Foresight, Intentions, and Intentional Actions: Probing Folk Intuitions
A number of philosophers working under the rubric of "experimental philosophy" have recently begun focusing on analyzing the concepts of ordinary language and investigating the intuitions of laypersons in an empirically informed way. In a series of papers these philosophers – who often work in collaboration with psychologists – have presented the results of empirical studies aimed at proving folk intuitions in areas as diverse as ethics, epistemo…
Is Incompatibilism Intuitive
Incompatibilists believe free will is impossible if determinism is true, and they often claim that this view is supported by ordinary intuitions. We challenge the claim that incompatibilism is intuitive to most laypersons and discuss the significance of this challenge to the free will debate. After explaining why incompatibilists should want their view to accord with pretheoretical intuitions, we suggest that determining whether incompatibilism i…
Temperament and intuition: A commentary on Feltz and Cokely
Neurolaw and Neuroprediction: Potential Promises and Perils
Neuroscience has been proposed for use in the legal system for purposes of mind reading, assessment of responsibility, and prediction of misconduct. Each of these uses has both promises and perils, and each raises issues regarding the admissibility of neuroscientific evidence
The Future of Punishment
The twelve essays in this volume aim at providing philosophers neuroscientists, psychologists, and legal theorists with an opportunity to examine the cluster of related issues that will need to be addressed as scholars struggle to come to grips with the picture of human agency being pieced together by researchers in the biosciences
The free will inventory: Measuring beliefs about agency and responsibility
Pure Retributivism and the Problem of Psychopathy: A Preliminary Investigation / Retributivismo Puro e o Problema da Psicopatia: Uma Investigação Preliminar
My present goal is to explore some possible responses pure (or strict) retributivists might have to the gathering of empirical data on psychopaths. In addressing this issue, I will first briefly examine the strides researchers have recently made in understanding the nature of psychopathy, paying particular attention to work on the neural and genetic components of the disorder (§1). Then, I will survey several ways that a pure retributivist might …
Be it ever so humble: Proposing a dual-dimension account and measurement of humility
What does it mean to be humble? We argue that humility is an epistemically and ethically aligned state of awareness – the experience of ourselves as a small part of a larger universe and as one among a host of other morally relevant beings. So conceived, humility can be operationalized and measured along the dual dimensions of low self-focus and high other-focus and is distinct from other related constructs (e.g., modesty and open-mindedness). We…
Folk intuitions and the conditional ability to do otherwise
In a series of pre-registered studies, we explored (a) the difference between people’s intuitions about indeterministic scenarios and their intuitions about deterministic scenarios, (b) the difference between people’s intuitions about indeterministic scenarios and their intuitions about neurodeterministic scenarios (that is, scenarios where the determinism is described at the neurological level), (c) the difference between people’s intuitions abo…
Does encouraging a belief in determinism increase cheating? Reconsidering the value of believing in free will
Folk psychology and proximal intentions
There is a longstanding debate in philosophy concerning the relationship between intention and intentional action. According to the Single Phenomenon View, while one need not intend to A in order to A intentionally, one nevertheless needs to have an A-relevant intention. This view has recently come under criticism by those who think that one can A intentionally without any relevant intention at all. On this view, neither distal nor proximal inten…
Piercing the Smoke Screen: Dualism, Free Will, and Christianity
Research on the folk psychology of free will suggests that people believe free will is incompatible with determinism and that human decision-making cannot be exhaustively characterized by physical processes. Some suggest that certain elements of Western cultural history, especially Christianity, have helped to entrench these beliefs in the folk conceptual economy. Thus, on the basis of this explanation, one should expect to find three things: (1)…
Chronic Pain, Mere-Differences, and Disability Variantism
While some philosophers believe disabilities constitute a “bad-difference,” others think they constitute a “mere-difference” (Barnes 2016). On this latter view, while disabilities may create certain hardships, having a disability is not bad in itself. I argue that chronic pain problematizes this disability-neutral view. In doing so, I first survey the literature on chronic pain (§1). Then, I argue that Barnes’s mere-difference view cannot adequat…
Intuitions About Free Will and the Failure to Comprehend Determinism
Not What I Expected! Feeling of Surprise Differentially Mediates Effect of Personal Control on Attributions of Free will and Responsibility
Commonsense morality and the bearable automaticity of being
Some research suggests that moral behavior can be strongly influenced by trivial features of the environment of which we are completely unaware. Philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists have argued that these findings undermine our commonsense notions of agency and responsibility, both of which emphasize the role of practical reasoning and conscious deliberation in action. We present the results of four vignette-based studies (N=1,437) de…
Thinking differently: Neurodivergent traits and responses to thought experiments in philosophers and the general population
Philosophers have long speculated that individual differences in temperament influence philosophical thinking, yet empirical research has rarely explored the role of neurodivergent traits in this domain. In this large online study (N = 1,254), we investigated whether participants with training in philosophy differ from the general population when it comes to six psychological traits—autism, ADHD, aphantasia, anendophasia, anauralia, and represent…
Psychology (17 works) · Epistemology (16 works) · Philosophy (13 works) · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment (13 works) · Free Will and Agency (12 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Free will (7 works) · Determinism (5 works) · Experimental philosophy (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works)