文档介绍：: Problems of Philosophy
Prof. Sally Haslanger
November 5, 2001
Freewill II: Compatibilism
STANDARD HARD DETERMINIST ARGUMENT
1. Whatever happens is determined by prior events. (Determinism)
2. I act freely iff I am able to act otherwise. (Avoidability Analysis of Freedom)
3. If my action is determined, I am unable to act otherwise.
4. So, I never act freely.
I. Consider (1): Determinism:
ï To say that an event e is determined, is not to day that e is predictable.
ï To say that an event e is determined, is not to say that it is fated.
e is determined iff due to prior events, e is bound to occur.
e is fated iff regardless of prior events, e is bound to occur.
Consider again the example of my raising my arm. The determinist will say, of course, that my arm was caused to, and so
bound to go up due to preceding events. But note that its rising was the effect of, among other things, my decision to raise
my arm. So itís not true that my arm was going to go up no matter what: if my decision had been different, my action
would have been different. This means that the determinist, unlike the fatalist, can say: what I do depends on what I choose
to do. Suppose I hadnít wanted to raise my arm just then; well, then I wouldnít have raised it. But then even if in fact I was
caused to raise my arm, since my decision was the cause, it would s