322 RELIGION, MORALITY, FAITH, AND REASONThe Principle of Alternative Possibilities
The libertarian typically embraces the Principle of Alternative Possibilities
which says that one is responsible for performing an action A on a given
occasion only if on that occasion one has categorical freedom regarding
performing A as well as categorical freedom regarding refraining from
performing A. This principle has met with great resistance of late on grounds
worth investigating.
Alleged counterexamples to the Principle of Alternative
Possibilities
Recent philosophy has seen a variety of alleged counterexamples to the claim
that anyone lacking categorical freedom cannot properly be held morally
responsible for anything. The basic idea of the objector is to present cases in
which an agent who lacks categorical freedom is nonetheless morally
responsible for what she does. Once one sees the relevant recipe, one can
construct one alleged example after another; a couple of simple cases will
convey the core idea. Suppose that in each case there is a morally right thing
to do, and that “responsible” means “morally responsible.”
Case 1: John sits in his room. He has a big chemistry exam
tomorrow and can either study for it or go out to the
Sherlock Holmes Movie Festival. He loves Holmes films
and hates chemistry. Yet he decides to stay at his desk
and study. Unknown to him, his parents in any case
locked his door from the outside, so he could not have
left anyway. Yet John is responsible for his choice to
stay at his desk.
Case 2: Mary sits reflecting as to whether to send a bitter letter to her
aunt, who has angered her greatly. But she also knows her
aunt meant well and that it would be wrong to send the
letter. Unknown to Mary, her sister Ann, a doctor, inserted
a microchip into Mary’s brain that allows Ann to monitor
Mary’s thoughts and control them if she wishes. Ann
loves her aunt deeply and is monitoring Mary’s thoughts;
if Mary decides not to send the letter Ann will do nothing,
but if Mary decides to send the letter Ann will make her
reverse her decision. Mary decides on her own not to mail
the letter, so Ann does nothing.