The check

18 questions, about five minutes. Most let you hold several positions at once, or none — and you can skip anything. No login; your answers stay in this browser.

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question 1 of 18 · Free will

Could you ever have chosen differently?

Select every position you genuinely hold — one, several, or none. Mixed views are welcome; if two selections pull against each other, the result will show it.

Every option here keeps the entire past and the laws of nature exactly the same — the question is what could happen next.

Only one action was really possibleIf the whole past and the laws of nature were exactly the same, only one future action could happen.

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exact wording used by the check

Given exactly the same complete past and laws of nature, only one future human action is possible.

what it means

This is causal or nomological determinism as applied to choices: a metaphysical claim about whether the past and laws fix a unique future. It is not a claim about quantum mechanics, relativity, or whether anyone could in practice predict the outcome.

reason to hold it

Determinists treat actions as part of a world fully fixed by past conditions and natural laws.

reason not to

Indeterminists and libertarians hold that at least some action is not fixed in that way.

sources

[1] Free Will [2] Compatibilism

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How would you rephrase it?

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I genuinely could have done otherwiseSometimes you really could choose differently, even with the exact same past and laws of nature.

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exact wording used by the check

At least sometimes, a person could choose differently while the entire past and laws of nature remained exactly the same.

what it means

This asserts alternative possibilities under the same past and laws, rather than freedom understood only as acting on one's reasons.