Hume — Liberty compatible with necessity

Does the regular dependence of action on character and desire erase responsibility, or make it possible?

David Hume Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, Section VIII

Evidence-backed account

Hume offers one of the most influential statements of classical compatibilism, reconciling freedom and moral responsibility with causal determination.

Open evidence

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

Hume on Free Will
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Locator: Introduction; §1 Liberty and Necessity — The Classical Reading
Open source

On this reading, a free action is not uncaused; it issues from the agent's desires and will and contrasts with action produced by constraint.

Open evidence

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

Hume on Free Will
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Locator: §1 The Classical Reading; Treatise 2.3.2 and Enquiry 8
Open source

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