Minority report is a film based on the conflicting notions of free will and determinism. The movie tells the story of John Anderton, a Washington DC detective of the future, who works for Precrime, a company claiming the ability to predict crimes before they are acted out. This allows for the government to not only find and arrest the presumed “criminals,” but also prevent the crimes from ever occurring.
Anderton discovers flaw in the system when finds himself on the opposite spectrum predicted to commit a murder. He finds himself running just as all the other accused, whether guilty or not, find themselves. As a result, the murder he is suspected to commit is consequently caused by said accusation. Additionally, not only does the inaccurate prediction drive the criminal act he would’ve never committed to begin with, but the knowledge of his future allows him the choice to change his future, thus destroying any validity the Precrime approach stands on. In short, if any criminal is able to become aware of their supposed future crime, they will have the choice of not committing it and should then be given the choice before being punished.
The whole movie is based on whether it is possible/moral to connect malicious thoughts or intentions directly to malicious actions. The criminals are treated as if they do not have a free will, and that their crime-ridden future is inevitable. They are in a sense “determined” to act unlawfully, (which then blame should not be given if they have no control over what they will do, no real intentions or choice to choose between right and wrong)
As Terri Murray discusses in Our-Post Moral Future, “it follows from the fact that someone might commit a crime that they also might not.” The author discusses whether we are the way we are because of natural or innate characteristics, or if we have chosen to make ourselves this way. If we consciously choose to be the people we are then we would then be responsible for those facts as well as our actions. She refers to African Americans and women who were (and still are) discriminated against and are given the blame for either having that skin color or for being born that gender. Just as the criminals in Minority Report, this reveals the huge contradiction between lacking choices of what you “are” (whether it is destined to break laws, or being a woman or person of a different race) yet also being responsible for those traits.
Overall, if we have free will then we should be punished for criminal acts (obviously considering the circumstance/intentions) and it is impossible to simply reads someone’s thoughts pre-crime and be totally sure the act will be carried out. If we do not have free will and our actions are pre-determined, then there lies the problem of whether we, as humans, should be blamed for these actions, or simply “treated” for these “pre-existing conditions” as Terry Murray describes them.
Minority Report Clips (NYTimes)
