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    A genuine agent-causal relation requires the *substance* ... — Carmelics
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    Supports→Kane's appeal to indeterminate efforts of will and indeterminism does not help meet the luck objection against event-causal libertarianism

    A genuine agent-causal relation requires the *substance* of the agent—not merely events within the agent—to be the originating source, a condition event-causal libertarianism by definition cannot satisfy.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Event-causation describes changes in properties; agency requires a persisting entity that maintains identity across causing different actions.
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    • 2.Only substances possess the unity and continuity needed to be held responsible; events are too fleeting to ground moral accountability.
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    • 3.If only events cause actions, the agent itself becomes epiphenomenal—a passive locus where events happen rather than an active originator.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.Substance-causation is conceptually obscure; we have no clear understanding of how non-event entities could causally produce anything.
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    • 2.Events *are* what substances do; agency through event-causation doesn't reduce agents to epiphenomena but rather constitutes their causal power.
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    • 3.Responsibility requires the right causal history (reasons-responsiveness), not substance-level causation; event-causation satisfies this fully.
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    Key Terms

    Agent-causal relation(the main concept being discussed)
    A type of causation where a person or thing (the agent) directly causes something to happen, rather than just a chain of events causing the next event.
    Event-causal libertarianism(the opposing view being critiqued in the statement)
    A philosophical position that says free will is real and that events (like brain activity or decisions) are what cause our actions, not some deeper 'self' or substance.
    Libertarianism (in philosophy)(as used in philosophy of free will (different from the political view))
    The view that humans have free will in a strong sense—that our choices are not completely determined by prior causes or natural laws.
    Originating source(what reactive attitudes assume the agent must be)
    The actual cause or starting point of an action; the person who genuinely initiated or brought about the action themselves.
    substance(Spinoza's metaphysics; criteria include (i) necessity and (ii) self-subsistence)
    The fundamental existent that is wholly necessary and self-subsistent, not depending on anything else for its existence

    Connections

    2 topics

    Free Will & Foreknowledge1 linkedMoral Responsibility1 linked

    Related

    Event-causation describes changes in properties; agency requires a persisting en...Events *are* what substances do; agency through event-causation doesn't reduce a...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    If only events cause actions, the agent itself becomes epiphenomenal—a passive l...
    Kane's appeal to indeterminate efforts of will and indeterminism does not help m...
    +3 moreShow less
    Only substances possess the unity and continuity needed to be held responsible; ...Responsibility requires the right causal history (reasons-responsiveness), not s...Substance-causation is conceptually obscure; we have no clear understanding of h...