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All perspectives

1969

Frankfurt — Acting for one’s own reasons without alternatives

If an intervener could block every alternative but never touches the actual decision, does the absence of alternatives remove responsibility?

Harry FrankfurtAlternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility

Evidence-backed account

The Principle of Alternative Possibilities says a person is morally responsible only if they could have done otherwise.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Moral Responsibility and the Principle of Alternative Possibilities

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: Introduction; Principle of Alternative Possibilities

    Open source

Frankfurt-style cases argue for responsibility without alternatives, but objections continue over residual flickers of freedom and whether the cases presuppose determinism.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Moral Responsibility and the Principle of Alternative Possibilities

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: §3.4.3 Frankfurt-Style Cases; §4 Objections

    Open source
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