PHI 1500

Your Name

Teacher

Class

Date

On the Question of Free Will

The term freedom ' is understood in two general senses . On the one hand , freedom means an absence of determination or certain sorts of determination . Libertarianism argues that in for free action to be truly free , one must have the ability to do otherwise . Locke uses this example : a man falls asleep and is carried into and locked within a room with a good friend . When the man wakes up , he sees his friend and desires to stay in

the room in to share in good company however argues Locke , this man is not truly free . Even if he wants to stay in the room , the mere fact that he cannot leave means that he is not free On the other hand , freedom can mean merely choosing what one desires In this case , determinism and freedom do not seem to be contradictory as in the view of compatibalism . Whereas a hard determinism claims that all human behavior is determined by causes external to the will and therefore is not free with respect to the agent 's ability to choose compatibalism argues that so long as an agent wills or desires what is determined , he or she is still a free agent . As such , with respect to the example of the sleeping man above , the agent in the room would indeed be free insofar as he desires to remain in the room

One powerful response to determinism and compatibalism...