The impossibility of ultimate responsibility?

In Richard Swinburne (ed.), Free Will and Modern Science. Oup/British Academy (2011)
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Abstract

This chapter argues that the mere fact that a decision has not been fully caused by previous events suggests that these are simply random events for which a person cannot be properly held morally responsible. Whatever the laws governing the formations of our decisions, it is simply not possible that a person can be morally responsible for their actions. For either they are caused to do what they do by events outside their control, or their actions are the result of random processes.

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Galen Strawson
University of Texas at Austin

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