Introduction

This chapter covers the philosophical literature on the problem of free will and moral responsibility. It sketches the basic, intuitive problem and explains some terms, such as determinism, compatibilism, and incompatibilism. It talks about P. F. Strawson's “Freedom and Resentment,” in which he aims to resolve an age-old dispute about moral responsibility and free will. The chapter explains how Strawson addresses the problem regarding the scientific thesis of determinism that poses a threat to moral responsibility and freedom. It also points out that according to the thesis of determinism, the complete physical state of the world at any one point in time determines the complete physical state of the world at all other points in time. It emphasizes that the world is deterministic if determinism is true of it.