History of Philosophy Quarterly 29 (2):159-176 (2012)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
According to Thomas Reid, an agent cannot be free unless she has the power to do otherwise. This claim is usually interpreted as a version of the Principle of Alternate Possibilities. Against this interpretation, I argue that Reid is committed to the seemingly paradoxical position that an agent may have the power to do otherwise despite the fact that it is impossible that she do otherwise. Reid's claim about the power to do otherwise does not, therefore, entail the Principle of Alternate Possibilities. When it is an agent's character that deprives her of alternate possibilities, she is not thereby deprived of either power or freedom, and this is true even if the agent was not free or active in the formation of her character.
|
Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility.Harry Frankfurt - 1969 - Journal of Philosophy 66 (23):829.
Reid and Hume on the Possibility of Character.J. Harris - 2011 - In Ahnert & Manning (eds.), Character, Self and Sociability in the Scottish Enlightenment. Palgrave-Macmillan.
Explaining Our Choices: Reid on Motives, Character and Effort.Esther Kroeker - 2007 - Journal of Scottish Philosophy 5 (2):187-212.
View all 6 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Similar books and articles
Thomas Reid on Active Power and Free Agency.Xiangdong Xu - 2011 - Frontiers of Philosophy in China 6 (3):369-389.
Explaining Our Choices: Reid on Motives, Character and Effort.Esther Kroeker - 2007 - Journal of Scottish Philosophy 5 (2):187-212.
Reid on Instinctive Exertions and the Spatial Content of Sensations.Chris Lindsay - 2015 - In Todd Buras & Rebecca Copenhaver (eds.), Thomas Reid on Mind, Knowledge and Value. Oxford University Press. pp. 35-51.
Thomas Reid's Notion of Exertion.Paul Hoffman - 2006 - Journal of the History of Philosophy 44 (3):431-447.
Thomas Reid and Some Regress Arguments.Christopher Yeomans - 2006 - Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 88 (1):54-81.
A Puzzle Regarding Reid's Theory of Motives.Terence Cuneo - 2011 - British Journal for the History of Philosophy 19 (5):963-981.
An Essay by Thomas Reid on the Conception of Power.Thomas Reid & John Haldane - 2001 - Philosophical Quarterly 51 (202):1-12.
The (Near) Necessity of Alternate Possibilities for Moral Responsibility.Richard M. Glatz - 2008 - Philosophical Studies 139 (2):257-272.
Freedom and the Human Sciences: Hume’s Science of Man Versus Kant’s Pragmatic Anthropology.Thomas Sturm - 2011 - Kant Yearbook 3 (1):23-42.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2011-09-14
Total views
737 ( #9,829 of 2,499,697 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
42 ( #20,383 of 2,499,697 )
2011-09-14
Total views
737 ( #9,829 of 2,499,697 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
42 ( #20,383 of 2,499,697 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads