Liberty And Necessity: Peter Van Inwagen Freedom of the Will

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. Introduction

Compatibilism is the hypothesis that determinism and free will are compatible, and that it is conceivable to accept the two ideas without being contradictory. Moreover, compatibilism is determined by previous events and the laws of nature. However, it says that people could be able to keep from performing the act. Thus, if determinism implies that people do not have this capability, we must renounce compatibilism. In this paper I try to contribute to Van Inwagen's central argument; which is about free will and determinism, to stand in contrast to compatibilism and the view that free will is compatible with determinism. I argue the reason why according to Van Inwagen compatibilism is an ambiguous position and whether or not we have free will.
First, compatibilism (determinism) does not claim that humans are free. It is the allegation that everything that happens is determined by prior conditions along with the natural laws. According to the textbook compatibilist concludes that it is appropriate to speak of a future as “open” if it is a future that would be brought ab...

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