"Free will is the notional capacity or ability to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded."
The ability to make choices that are not determined by external factors, such as genetics or environment.
Determinism: The idea that all actions are predetermined by past events and circumstances, and therefore free will is an illusion.
Libertarianism: The belief that individuals have free will and are not predetermined by past events or circumstances.
Compatibilism: The idea that free will and determinism are compatible with each other, and that there can be causation without coercion.
Moral responsibility: The idea that individuals are morally responsible for their actions and the consequences that result from them, regardless of whether free will or determinism is true.
The Trolley Problem: A thought experiment in ethics that explores the moral dilemmas surrounding the choice between causing harm to one person versus several people.
Agent Causation: The belief that individuals have the ability to cause events independently of physical causes, and thus have free will.
Reductionism: The idea that complex systems can be reduced to their fundamental parts, and that individuals can be explained solely by their physical components.
Quantum Physics: The study of the behavior of matter and energy at the smallest scales, which has implications for the concept of free will.
Neuroscience: The study of the nervous system and the brain, which has implications for the concept of free will and the role of biology in decision-making.
Ethics: The study of moral principles and values, which are central to debates about free will and moral responsibility.
Libertarian Free Will: This type of free will posits that humans have ultimate control over their actions and can perform actions that were not pre-determined or influenced by prior causes.
Compatibilist Free Will: This perspective holds that free will and determinism can coexist, and that actions can be both determined and freely chosen simultaneously.
Hard Determinism: This view holds that determinism is true, and free will is an illusion since every action is pre-determined by previous events.
Fatalism: This idea asserts that every event or action that happens in the world is fated, and there is nothing that anyone can do to either stop or change it.
Divine Will: This notion suggests that God or some other supernatural force controls everything, including human responses and actions.
Soft Determinism: This view suggests that while determinism is accurate, it is possible for humans to have free will since their behaviors are determined by their internal desires and beliefs, and not exterior forces.
Existential Free Will: This view posits that humans have absolute freedom over their actions, and that even though their actions might appear random, they are always a result of conscious choice.
Indeterminism: This conception proposes that some events or actions in the world have no predetermined causes and that humans can make completely random choices, without any other preceding factors.
Principle of Alternate Possibilities: This concept argues that a person is responsible for their actions only if they could have acted differently in the situation.
Libertarianism: This view advocates an emphasis on individual freedom and the minimization of state control or regulation.
"Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgments which apply only to actions that are freely chosen."
"It is also connected with the concepts of advice, persuasion, deliberation, and prohibition."
"Traditionally, only actions that are freely willed are seen as deserving credit or blame."
"The implications of whether free will exists or not are some of the longest running debates of philosophy and religion."
"Some conceive of free will as the ability to act beyond the limits of external influences or wishes."
"Some conceive free will to be the capacity to make choices undetermined by past events."
"Determinism suggests that only one course of events is possible, which is inconsistent with a libertarian model of free will."
"Ancient Greek philosophy identified this issue, which remains a major focus of philosophical debate."
"The view that conceives free will as incompatible with determinism is called incompatibilism."
"Incompatibilism encompasses both metaphysical libertarianism (the claim that determinism is false and thus free will is at least possible) and hard determinism (the claim that determinism is true and thus free will is not possible)."
"Hard incompatibilism holds not only determinism but also indeterminism to be incompatible with free will and thus free will to be impossible whatever the case may be regarding determinism."
"Compatibilists hold that free will is compatible with determinism."
"Some compatibilists even hold that determinism is necessary for free will, arguing that choice involves preference for one course of action over another, requiring a sense of how choices will turn out."
"Compatibilists thus consider the debate between libertarians and hard determinists over free will vs. determinism a false dilemma."
"Classical compatibilists considered free will nothing more than freedom of action, considering one free of will simply if, had one counterfactually wanted to do otherwise, one could have done otherwise without physical impediment."
"Contemporary compatibilists instead identify free will as a psychological capacity, such as to direct one's behavior in a way responsive to reason."
"Different compatibilists offer very different definitions of what 'free will' means and consequently find different types of constraints to be relevant to the issue."
"There are still further different conceptions of free will, each with their own concerns, sharing only the common feature of not finding the possibility of determinism a threat to the possibility of free will."
"Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgments which apply only to actions that are freely chosen."