The presumption of compatibilism

Bibliographic Data

ID10722738
AuthorsDaniel Lim (0000-0002-7742-8721, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, corresponding author), Ryan Nichols (0000-0001-9445-9821, California State University, Fullerton), Joseph A Wagoner (0000-0002-2549-521X, University of Colorado Colorado Springs), Joseph Wagoner
Year2025
Volume61
IssueS1
PagesS135-S153
Publication date2025-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligious Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-4125 • E-ISSN: 1469-901X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0034412525000113
OpenAlexW4408040883
LanguageEN
References cited30

Recent debates over the relationship between omniscience and free will have generated a number of views (e.g. Ockhamism). Though fascinating in their own right, what interests us in this paper is not so much the views themselves, but the way that intuitions have figured prominently in justifying these views. Proponents of the various views assume that their intuitions are the most pre-philosophically natural (or closely aligned with common sense) and therefore best situated to serve as justifications for their views. These implicit claims, however, are not a priori justified; they require empirical investigation. To take a modest step forward in exploring pre-philosophical intuitions about the relationship between omniscience and free will we conducted a series of experiments which presented participants with three cases (two are prominent in the free will and philosophy of religion literatures: Newcomb’s Paradox (Nozick 1969) and Plantinga’s ‘ant colony’ (1986)). Experiment 1 sampled US participants from varied religious backgrounds. Experiment 2 used English-language vignettes and sampled non-Christian persons from India. Experiment 3 used Korean-language translations, and sampled two groups of South Koreans, Christians and non-Christians. Analysis of the data revealed that pre-philosophical intuitions about omniscience and free will are describable as compatibilist

Compatibilism · Epistemology · Free will · Political science · Presumption · Free Will and Agency · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · War, Ethics, and Justification

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