Question

Explain Ayer’s version of compatibilism about free will and determinism?

Answer 1

Most Compatibilists define as consciousness of necessity, by this a compatibilist would mean that we are aware of the causes that operate upon us and what it is that we are compelled to do, however Alfred Jules Ayer (1910-1989) opposed this definition since being aware of the choices that we are forced to make does not mean that we are free to make different ones. According to him if we are to define free will anyway we choose, then it is very likely that we are going to find a way to reconcile it with determinism.

“ But now we must ask how it is that I come to make my choice. Either it is an accident that I choose to act as I do or it is not. If it is an accident, then it is merely a matter of chance that I did not choose otherwise; and if it is merely a matter of chance that I did not choose otherwise, it is surely irrational to hold me morally responsible for choosing as I did. But is it is not an accident that I choose to do one thing rather than another, then presumably there is some casual explanation of my choice: and in that case we are laid back to determinism”

Ayer’s primary argument was that freedom should not be defined in contrast to causation, rather it should be contrasted with compulsion. He specified his concept using a three pronged test: I” could have done otherwise” if :

1)I had chosen so

2) My action was voluntary _I decided to perform this action and not another

3)No other person compelled me to choose to act as I did

According to Ayer, when all three conditions are satisfied, I can be said to be a moral agent acting freely.