[ExI] free-will, determinism, crime and punishment

[Samantha Atkins]

On Aug 18, 2007, at 7:08 PM, Stathis Papaioannou wrote:

> On 19/08/07, Samantha Atkins <sjatkins at mac.com> wrote:
>
>>> Compatibilism involves redefining "free" so that it doesn't mean the
>>> logically impossible thing we intuitively feel it means: neither
>>> determined nor random. Whether you accept the redefinition and call
>>> yourself a compatibilist is a matter of taste rather than a
>>> substantive philosophical issue.
>>
>> A matter of taste?  Really?
>
> Compatibilists say that you had no choice in your actions given the
> circumstances, but that's OK, you still have free will because if
> circumstances had been different your actions could have been
> different.

But doesn't "a matter of taste" itself imply free choice?  :-)

Dropping philosophically ridiculous absolutes seems required to even  
begin to explore the area.  I don't see where doing that is simply a  
matter of taste.

> Incompatibilists say that you had no choice in your actions
> given the circumstances and this means that there is no free will,
> even though if circumstances had been different your actions could
> have been different.

In which case it isn't a matter of taste.

> There is no difference in factual claims, just a
> difference in whether the words "free will" should be used to describe
> the facts.
>
>
>
> -- 
> Stathis Papaioannou
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