RELIGION AND MORALITY 309Compatibilism and incompatibilism
Compatibilism holds that it is logically possible that determinism be
true and that persons have the sort of freedom that is required for them
to be morally responsible for their choices and actions. The opposite
position to compatibilism is incompatibilism, which holds that it is not
logically possible (non-contradictory) that determinism be true and that
persons have the sort of freedom that is required for them to be morally
responsible for their choices and actions.
Libertarianism^8
Libertarianism holds that incompatibilism is true and determinism is
false; in order for persons to have the sort of freedom that is required
for them to be morally responsible for their choices and actions they
must have genuine freedom, not compatibilist so-called freedom,
regarding those choices and actions. Libertarians hold that persons do
have this sort of freedom. Compatibilists are dubious that there is even
possibly any sort of freedom beyond that which they affirm. The notion
of libertarian freedom, often called categorical freedom, runs as follows.
(CF) Jane is categorically (or libertarianly) free with respect to lying at
T entails Jane’s lying is within her power at T and Jane’s refraining
from lying is within her power at T.
In turn:
(CFa) Jane’s lying is within her power at T entails Jane’s lying at T does
not require that Jane falsify some total universal description
(TUD) tensed to a time earlier than T, make some law of nature
false, or make some law of logic false;
and
(CFb) Jane’s refraining from lying is within her power at T entails
Jane’s refraining from lying at T does not require that Jane falsify
some TUD tensed to a time earlier than T, make some law of
nature false, or make some law of logic false.
(CF) is to be understood as containing the definitions provided by (CFa)
and (CFb).