The Nightmare Before Christmas

Siobhain Lash argues that you can sometimes be to blame even when you couldn’t have done differently.

- Siobhain Lash

If free will does not exist, what implications does this have for our ethical behavior, specifically for moral responsibility? And what does determinism – the idea that you could not have done otherwise than what you actually did – really imply for moral responsibility?

The widely-held Principle of Alternate Possibilities states that a person is morally responsible for what he has done only if he could have done otherwise. Thus if someone is said to have a level of control over their actions and a choice between two options – to do or to not do something – then they can be considered as morally responsible for their actions. Conversely, if they lack a real ability to choose between two options (for instance because determinism is true) then they cannot be considered as morally responsible for their actions. This includes if a person was being influenced by external or internal force. For instance, if I hold a gun to your head and tell you to open the bank vault, you are not morally responsible for doing so.