Free will

Free will is being able to choose between different actions. If we judge an action (for example, as good or bad) it only makes sense if the action is freely chosen.

Things like advice, persuasion, and prohibition, are pointless unless people have some kind of free will. Free will means people can do different things. Different results come from different courses of action.^[1] Traditionally, only actions that are freely willed deserve credit or blame. If there is no free will, there is no sense or justice in rewarding or punishing anybody for any action.

Free will is a major problem in ethical philosophy, and is also relevant to the philosophy of science.

In ordinary life, and in law, people are generally assumed to have free will, and are responsible for what they do.

1. ↑ Aristotle, On Interpretation c. 9 18b 30, Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Part 1, Q.83 a1