In ferreting out the kind of control at stake in free will, we are forced to consider questions about causation, laws of nature, time, substance, ontologicalreduction vs emergence, the relationship of causal and reasons-based explanations, the nature of motivation and more generally of human persons.
"Ontological" refers to questions about what actually exists or is real. It's concerned with the fundamental nature of being—asking "What kinds of things are there?" rather than "How do we know about them?" For example, an ontological question might be whether numbers, ideas, or God actually exist as real things, or if they're just human inventions.
Reasons-based explanation(contrasted with causal explanation as another way to explain actions)
An explanation of why someone did something based on their thoughts, beliefs, and motivations rather than just physical causes.
Reduction vs emergence(whether human behavior can be fully explained by basic physical facts)
Reduction means breaking something down into smaller parts; emergence means the whole has new properties that the individual parts don't have on their own.
causation(Lewis's counterfactual theory of causation)
Event C causes event E if and only if there exists a chain C, D1, …, Dn, E such that each member (except C) is counterfactually dependent on the preceding event; causation is the ancestral of counterfactual dependence
free will(Kant's practical resolution of the third antinomy)
An exemption from the laws of nature; the power of doing and forbearing
laws of nature(Dispute between Ellis and Lowe over the modal status of laws)
Regularities grounded either in essential facts about natural kinds (Ellis) or in the contingent possession of properties by kinds (Lowe)
The term “free will” has emerged over the past two millennia as the canonical designator for a significant kind of control over one’s actions. Questions concerning the nature and existence of this kind of control (e.g., does it require and do we have the freedom to do otherwise or the power of self-determination?), and what its true significance is (is it necessary for moral responsibility or human dignity?) have been taken up in every period of Western philosophy and by many of the most important philosophical figures, such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, and Kant. (We can...