Time, Determinism & Free Will

The Free Will Problem

A framing problem rather than a single theory: the apparent tension between a universe that seems to run on cause-and-effect (or, per quantum mechanics, chance) and…

speculative Classical Ancient roots (Aristotle, the Stoics, Epicurus); modern formal argument via Peter van Inwagen, 1975

Hard Determinism

Holds that determinism is true — every event, including every human decision, is the fixed consequence of prior causes and the laws of nature — and…

alternative Classical Ancient atomism (Democritus, 5th century BCE); classical statement via Laplace's demon, 1814; modern defense by Derk Pereboom, 2001

Compatibilism

Holds that free will and determinism are not actually in conflict — that acting freely just means acting on one's own reasons and desires without external…

mainstream Contemporary Ancient Stoic roots; modern form via Thomas Hobbes (1651) and David Hume (1748); refined by Harry Frankfurt, 1969 onward

Metaphysical Libertarianism

Holds that free will is real and requires indeterminism to be true — that some human choices are not fully fixed by prior causes, leaving room…

alternative Classical Ancient roots via Epicurus's atomic "swerve," 3rd century BCE; modern defense by Robert Kane, 1996

The Consequence Argument

A tightly formal argument for incompatibilism: if determinism is true, our present acts are the necessary consequence of the distant past plus the laws of nature…

alternative Contemporary 1975 ("The Incompatibility of Free Will and Determinism"), with precursors from Carl Ginet and Keith Lehrer

Eternalism (Block Universe)

Holds that past, present, and future are all equally real, laid out together in a single four-dimensional 'block' of spacetime — meaning the flow of time…

alternative Contemporary Formal spacetime framework 1908 (Hermann Minkowski); classic philosophical argument by C. W. Rietdijk (1966) and Hilary Putnam (1967)

Growing Block Universe

A middle position holding that the past and present are real, but the future does not yet exist at all — reality is a spacetime 'block'…

alternative Contemporary 1923 (C. D. Broad); modern defenses by Michael Tooley (1997) and Peter Forrest (2004)

Presentism

Holds that only the present moment is real — the past no longer exists and the future does not yet exist — matching the common-sense view…

mainstream Classical Ancient roots contrasted with Parmenides' eternalism; classical formulation by Augustine of Hippo, c. 400 CE; modern analytic defenses by Ned Markosian (2004) and others

Neuroscience of Free Will (Libet Experiments)

A body of experimental work using EEG and fMRI to look for the brain's decision-making process before a person becomes consciously aware of "deciding" — used…

speculative Contemporary 1983 (Benjamin Libet et al.); the "readiness potential" concept traces to Kornhuber & Deecke, 1965