Libertarianism

Simple Libertarianism: Someone freely performs an action if and only (i) if she chooses to perform that action and (ii) her choice was not determined.

Philosophers worry that if an action is not determined, then it is a matter of chance or luck that it occurred rather than an alternative action that could have occurred instead… Right before my decision, I think about how I… feel… I think about my desires… and so on. But according to simple indeterminism, none of these factors cause my decision… [so] how can I be responsible for what I do in these cases? -Meghan Griffith

[I]f it is a matter of pure chance that a man should act in one way rather than another, he may be free but he can hardly be responsible. And indeed when a man’s actions seem to us quite unpredictable, when, as we say, there is no knowing what he will do, we do not look upon him as a moral agent. We look upon him rather as a lunatic. -A.J. Ayer

Simple Libertarianism: Someone freely performs an action if and only (i) if she chooses to perform that action and (ii) her choice was not determined.

Reasons Libertarianism: Someone freely performs an action if and only (i) if she chooses to perform that action, (ii) her choice was not determined, and (iii) her choice was the result of her desires, feelings, etc.

Either it is an accident that I choose to act as I do or it is not. If it is an accident, then it is merely a matter of chance that I did not choose otherwise; and if it is merely a matter of chance that I did not choose otherwise, it is surely irrational to hold me morally responsible for choosing as I did. But if it is not an accident that I chose to do one thing rather than another, then presumably there is some causal explanation of my choice: and in that case we are led back to determinism. -A.J. Ayer

A substance is an individual object or entity. An event is something that happens.

The balls’ collision caused the movement. The wire’s sparking started the fire. The man’s texting led to the accident. The rock crushed the flower. The water caused the erosion. The girl broke the vase.

Agent-Causal Libertarianism: Someone freely performs an action if and only (i) if she chooses to perform that action, (ii) her choice was not determined, (iii) she herself (a substance) caused the choice to occur.

Reasons Libertarianism: Someone freely performs an action if and only (i) if she chooses to perform that action, (ii) her choice was not determined, and (iii) her choice was the result of her desires, feelings, etc.

The Universality of Causation: Everything has a cause which precedes it in time. The Sufficiency of Causation: Causes determine their effects, in the sense that the effect is necessary, given the cause (and the laws).