PHIL 1110 Intro to free will (Kane)

Libertarianism

The belief that free will exists and that it is incompatible with determinism, therefore, determinism is false

Determinism + hard and soft determinism

Determinism: all events are predetermined; could only have happened one way. It is not up to us what we choose from an array of possibilities, and the sources of our actions come from something/someone/somewhere outside of us and beyond our control.
Hard determinism: Agrees with libertarianism that free will is incompatible with determinism (incompatibilist), but, unlike libertarianism, believes that human behavior is determined, and therefore we do not have free will in the incompatibilist sense
Soft determinism: Comptabilists who do believe that human behavior is determined (like hard determinists), but insist that free will is not undermined by determinism

Indeterminism (and what does it mean for free will? is it compatible?)

Not all events are predetermined/caused. Some occurrences happen randomly or by chance, rather than being inevitable outcomes of a chain of cause and effect. Is not necessarily compatible with free will, because randomness/undetermined events seem to be a matter of chance. This means they are not under the control of anything. So how could they be free or responsible actions? (Think: sudden jerk of the arm, quantum particles moving unpredictably). Undetermined free choice doesn’t make much sense (Kane).

Compatibilism, incompatibilism + the compatibility question

Compatibilism: free will and determinism are compatible/can coexist
Incompatibilism: free will and determinism are not compatible/cannot coexist
The compatibility question: Is free will compatible or incompatible with determinism?

Intelligibility question

Can we make sense of a freedom or free will that is incompatible with determinism, or is it mysterious and incoherent?