MIXORA CONCEPT
Free will
A debated kind of control over one's actions connected to choice, agency and moral responsibility.
Theories disagree over whether freedom requires genuine alternatives, being the source of action, responsiveness to reasons, or freedom from certain constraints. The debate cannot be settled by defining free will as mere randomness.
What “Interpretation” means
This is a philosophical distinction, theory or contested way of organizing a question—not an empirical diagnosis with one universally accepted answer.
VISUAL EXPLANATION · MARKER BOARDA person acting after reflection may be free on a reasons-responsive view even if the world is deterministic.
An action being uncaused or unpredictable would not by itself make it controlled by the agent.
Which kind of control is required for responsibility in this case?
The thesis that the state of the world together with the laws of nature fixes what happens next.
→thoughtCompatibilismThe view that free will or moral responsibility can be compatible with determinism.
→thought × bridgeCausationA relationship in which changing one factor makes a difference to another outcome under relevant conditions.
→thought × bridgePersonal identityThe philosophical problem of what makes a person the same person across time and change.
→SOURCES & TRUST
References
Last reviewed
- 01Free WillReference source
Timothy O'Connor and Christopher Franklin · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Control over action, alternative possibilities, sourcehood and moral responsibility.
What the source labels mean
- Primary source
- Original work, experiment, standard or historical text.
- Academic source
- Scholarly research or review published for an academic audience.
- Reference source
- An expert standard, encyclopedia or institutional explanation that summarizes a field.
- General reference
- A practical specialist resource useful for application, but not treated as decisive research by itself.