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

[Lee Corbin]

John writes


> "Lee Corbin" <lcorbin at rawbw.com>
> 
>> If someone hacked into the program, however,
>> and just before the hour was  up forced the program
>> to emit Qxf6 instead, then the program's "free will"
>> was abrogated.
> 
> That is exactly equivalent to saying "After I started processing the data
> but before I produced an output I came into possession of important
> new data on the matter".

I don't agree at all!  In your example, my free will is not infringed.
Rather, on the contrary, I did decide freely to consider highly
the new data.

Here is a correct analogy:  I am trying to decide whether or not
to vote for X, and suddenly a goon shows up in the booth with
me and puts a gun to my head and says "vote for X or else".
That is analogous to a hacker substituing or forcing a program
at the last moment to emit a certain chess move.  The whole of
the program was not consulted.  In my case, all my judgments
and feelings and considerations were upended by fear of the
gun against my temple.

So with either the goon in the voting booth with me, or someone
tampering in a trivial way with the chess program, we may say
that the agent was not allowed to freely choose.  That is the
best way to use words, otherwise you end up in the ridiculous
predicament of having to deny that you had any choice about
answering this email.

You did have a choice, (as is affirmed by us compatibilists, as
gts has amply described).

Lee