Free will

High school (ages 12+)
Philosophy & Big Questions

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/free-will

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the philosophical domain?Metaphysics and Ethics, exploring agency and moral responsibility
2. Can free will exist if everything is caused by earlier events?Some philosophers say no, because if everything is determined there is only one possible future. Others think free will can still exist even when events are caused.
3. Why do people talk about free will in law and punishment?Because we need to hold people responsible for their actions, and that only makes sense if they chose those actions freely.

Determinism: The thesis that all events are necessitated by antecedent causes and conditions together with the laws of nature.
Incompatibilism: The view that free will and determinism are logically incompatible.
Compatibilism: The view that free will is compatible with determinism.
Agent Causation: The theory that agents, rather than events, can initiate new causal chains.