incompatibilisme

Incompatibilism is a philosophical position regarding the problem of free will and determinism. It asserts that free will and determinism are logically incompatible. This means that if determinism is true, then free will cannot exist, and if free will exists, then determinism must be false. Incompatibilists generally fall into one of two camps: libertarians or hard determinists. Libertarians believe that free will exists and therefore determinism is false. Hard determinists believe that determinism is true and therefore free will does not exist.

The core of the incompatibilist argument rests on the idea that for an action to be considered free, the agent must have had genuine alternative possibilities available to them. Determinism, on the other hand, suggests that every event, including human actions, is causally necessitated by prior events and the laws of nature. This leaves no room for genuine alternatives; if determinism is true, then at any given moment, only one future is physically possible.

Incompatibilism is contrasted with compatibilism, which argues that free will and determinism can coexist. Compatibilists often redefine free will in a way that does not require alternative possibilities, focusing instead on concepts like acting according to one's desires or reasons, even if those desires and reasons are themselves determined. The debate between incompatibilists and compatibilists is a central and long-standing one in the philosophy of free will.