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Hard Determinism And Compatibilism

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The concept of free will has been a point of contention among philosophers who study metaphysics. Regarding this concept of free will, three theories have arisen: hard determinism, libertarianism, and compatibilism. Hard determinism states that all human actions have been predetermined, whereas libertarians state that all human actions are free, and compatibilism states that some human actions are free, though they are all casually determined (Stewart et al., 2013, p. 154). Each of these three theories have a different definition of freedom, where hard determinism and libertarianism define freedom as that the person was not casually determined and could have chosen the alternative to his action, and compatibilists define freedom as a person’s ability to perform action through his desires, feelings, and emotions (Stewart et al., 2013, p. 154). Perhaps one of the greatest arguments for libertarianism involves the theory of causality. …show more content…

If no other event caused the person to perform the action he did, then the person was the cause of the action. Furthermore, if the choice was not predetermined and the person is the source of his choices, then they person is fully responsible for his choices (Stewart et al., 2013). Because the person participated in the action “the person has become the cause of the choice in a very strong sense, for the choice is alleged to flow directly from the person and not merely from some psychological events or states within the person” (Stewart et al., 2013, 158). People often speak as though they make free choices. For example, people say, “I chose to do this.” Because the person is the source of their actions gives them moral responsibility for whatever they choose to

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