The implications of Free Will or its absence.

The existence of phenomenal consciousness and of free-will and agency, to whatever extent we believe they do exist, underpins many of the important beliefs which we hold, take for granted and routinely act upon.

Responsibility, accountability, morality and justice

Without free-will, it is not meaningful to speak of responsibility, in the moral sense, or about justice any more than it would be meaningful to use these terms in connection with a robot or a computer system. Interestingly, however, the ways society deals with wayward people has much in common with the ways we deal with wayward machines or animals, even though these dealings are described and interpreted differently. If a computer malfunctions then, depending on the cause, the computer might be repaired or reprogrammed but it would be bizarre to say, and seriously mean it, that it should be punished. If a conscious agent, such as a human, malfunctions by choosing to act against what is acceptable in the community then that agent might be given medical treatment if the problem was considered a medical, or mental, one or reprogrammed by means or reward or punishment if the problem were considered a moral or behavioural one. [Gray 2004, Chapter 19]

From the point of view of an alien investigator who simply examined observed behaviour, there is little, if any, difference between the two cases. The interpretation and implications of the two are very different simply because a human is assumed to have freedom of choice whereas a computer does not. This also raises the question whether the motivation for punishment is correction, deterrence, defence or vengeance. Such a distinction would be irrelevant for a non-conscious machine, even though people will sometimes kick a malfunctioning machine in anger.

A less clear cut situation exists in the case of animals. The interpretation of behaviour would depend on our beliefs regarding whether, or to what extent, the animal is conscious. If a dog misbehaves and is given a smack with the intention of making it behave better, is that a punishment or an attempt at reprogramming, or both? Similarly, if a dog is given a treat for good behaviour. The answer depends on whether we believe dogs are conscious or are merely automata or whether they are conscious but in a lesser way, or a lesser extent, that humans are.