Open Discussion: Free Will, Determinism, and Compatibilism

Free will or determinism is a long-running debate of perennial interest: can I actually, physically, choose otherwise, or are my choices set by physics? Stoics have traditionally been compatibilists: the position that the world (including the human mind) is deterministic, but a meaningful kind of choice and moral responsibility is compatible with determinism. That's a counterintuitive proposition, so let's talk about it.

Here is a discussion of the Stoic position by Massimo Pigliucci: https://howtobeastoic.wordpress.com/2017/03/30/chrysippus-cylinder-agency-in-a-material-universe/

For context, the major positions are:

• Libertarianism (not the political kind): There is full free choice and reality is not deterministic. It is physically possible that things could go differently (at a macroscopic scale; this is not, primarily, a discussion about quantum mechanics).
• Compatibilism: Reality is deterministic; there may be the appearance of choice, but it is not actually possible for things to go otherwise than they do. However, this does not prohibit meaningful choice and moral responsibility.
• Hard determinism: Reality is deterministic, and moral responsibility does not exist.