free will
The kind of control over your own actions that makes praise, blame and responsibility appropriate. The long argument is whether it survives determinism, as compatibilists hold, or rules it out.
Why it matters
Almost every moral theory assumes people could have acted otherwise, so the answer here changes what the rest of ethics rests on.
Also written: freedom of the will
Where it comes up
Read about free will on Wikipedia
Sources
- Free Will Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Compatibilism Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
