The Free Will Show Episode 113: Determinism and the Principle of Sufficient Reason with Shaun Nichols
Feb 16, 2026
Shaun Nichols, Cornell philosopher studying cognitive science and experimental philosophy. He discusses how children and adults seek causal explanations, the Principle of Sufficient Reason and its historical links to determinism, cultural and developmental findings on explanatory compulsion, tensions between felt openness in choice and deterministic intuitions, and directions for experimental philosophy.
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Episode notes
Personal Origin Of Interest In Free Will
- Shaun Nichols recounts being introduced to determinism in college and immediately concluding determinism is true and free will false.
- That early reaction shaped his longstanding incompatibilist commitments until he pursued empirical work.
Determinism Vs. Children's Explanatory Drive
- Determinism says everything that happens is inevitable given what happened before, like rolling back the clock and replaying identical events.
- Shaun Nichols argues children's urge for causal explanations doesn't prove they endorse global determinism.
PSR as Historical Foundation For Determinism
- The Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR) claims every event must have an explanation and historically motivated determinism.
- Nichols links PSR to philosophers like Leibniz and Spinoza as a foundation for determinism.
