Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    The principle of alternative possibilities (PAP) is false. — Carmelics
    Home/Free Will & Foreknowledge
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The principle of alternative possibilities (PAP) is false.

    Free Will & Foreknowledge
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Since God infallibly believed yesterday that you will answer the phone at 9:00 am tomorrow, there is no alternative possibility on which you fail to answer the phone at 9:00 tomorrow morning.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.A man does not therefore sin because God foreknew that he would sin; God's foreknowledge does not force the future to happen.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Therefore we can still regard the action as free, even in the libertarian sense, despite the absence of alternative possibilities.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Frankfurt cases presuppose the counterfactual intervener can detect the agent's prior sign deterministically, but this detection itself requires a causally sufficient prior state.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If causal determinism is required to make Frankfurt cases work, then Frankfurt cases beg the question against the libertarian who holds that genuine agency requires indeterminism.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Therefore, Frankfurt cases do not independently refute PAP but merely restate the incompatibilist's burden, making the argument circular against its intended target.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Roderick Chisholm and others in the agent-causation tradition argue that moral responsibility requires the agent to be the originating cause of her action in a way that entails she could have done otherwise.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If an agent could not have done otherwise, then some prior state or mechanism—not the agent herself—is the ultimate source of the action, undermining agent-causation.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Therefore, PAP is not a detachable intuition but is constitutively linked to the agent-causation account of free will, and rejecting PAP entails rejecting agent-causal libertarianism wholesale.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Topics

    Free Will & Foreknowledge

    Related

    A man does not therefore sin because God foreknew that he would sin; God's forek...Frankfurt cases presuppose the counterfactual intervener can detect the agent's ...God's foreknowledge, no less than Black's mechanism, played no role at all in le...If an agent could not have done otherwise, then some prior state or mechanism—no...
    +6 moreShow less
    If causal determinism is required to make Frankfurt cases work, then Frankfurt c...Roderick Chisholm and others in the agent-causation tradition argue that moral r...Since God infallibly believed yesterday that you will answer the phone at 9:00 a...Therefore we can still regard the action as free, even in the libertarian sense,...Therefore, Frankfurt cases do not independently refute PAP but merely restate th...Therefore, PAP is not a detachable intuition but is constitutively linked to the...

    Similar

    AP1, AP2, and AP3 represent genuine alternative possibilities for Spin...81%If there are alternative possibilities for divine knowledge, then ther...80%Jones retains a morally relevant ability to do otherwise, preserving t...79%Because T is contingent, it is still possible for T to turn out false ...77%

    Source

    AI-extracted
    SEP: free-will-foreknowledge

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit