Compatibilism

/kəmˈpætəbəˌlɪzəm/ noun

The view that free will and moral responsibility are compatible with determinism. Compatibilists argue that what matters for freedom is not the absence of causation, but acting according to one's own desires without external coercion.

From Latin 'compatibilis' (able to coexist). The position emerged in response to arguments that determinism threatens free will and moral responsibility, with major developments by philosophers like Hobbes, Hume, and contemporary thinkers like Harry Frankfurt.

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