"It was my decision."
This concept claims humans have genuine choice not fully determined by prior causes.
What is libertarian free will or agency?
The view that every event is caused by prior events according to laws of nature.
What is determinism?
When someone commits a crime but it is determined to be a result of a mental illness, found "not guilty by reason of..."
What is insanity?
This author and neuroscience said, "Free will is an illusion...We do not have the freedom we think we have."
Who is Sam Harris?
A meaningful coincidence that cannot be explained by direct causation.
What is synchronicity?
This philosopher argued that humans are “condemned to be free,” even when denying it.
Who is Jean-Paul Sartre?
This branch of determinism focuses on brain states, genes, and neurobiology.
What is biological determinism?
Courts commonly allow neuroscience/genetics not to excuse guilt outright but to reduce punishment at this stage.
What is sentencing?
This neuroscientist’s experiments suggested the brain “decides” before conscious awareness asking "do we act freely?"
Who is Benjamin Libet?
This psychologist introduced synchronicity into depth psychology.
Who is Carl Jung?
The existential term for avoiding responsibility by pretending you have no choice.
What is bad faith?
The view that certain outcomes will happen no matter what you choose—so your actions don’t affect what is destined to occur.
What is fatalism?
The idea that a person can rightly be praised or blamed for an action because it was under their voluntary control and reflected their reasons or intentions.
What is moral responsibility?
This religious historical person...
John Calvin
Jung described synchronicity as meaningfully connected through this shared underlying reality.
What is the collective unconscious?
This position claims free will can exist even if determinism is true.
What is compatibilism?
The view that even if determinism is true, we can still have free will—so long as our actions flow from our own reasons and values rather than coercion.
What is compatibilism?
In 1994, she was acquitted by a jury on a temporary insanity theory (“irresistible impulse” language often appears in coverage), becoming a cultural shorthand for compulsion vs. control. Her husband was forever changed.
Who was Lorena Bobbitt?
This psychologist wondered, "did I actually decide to get out of bed on a cold morning" or "did I get up unconsciously?
Who is William James?
This concept challenges mechanistic causality by emphasizing symbolic meaning.
What is acausal connection?
This philosopher emphasized choice, responsibility, and the anxiety that comes with freedom.
Who is Søren Kierkegaard?
This idea says your sense of choosing is real—but causally ineffective.
What is epiphenomenalism?
These cases often rely on a broad claim: adolescents have less impulse control and foresight, so blameworthiness is reduced.
What is “diminished culpability of juveniles”?
This classic standard by Doris Day whose title means ‘whatever will be, will be,’ often used as a shorthand for fate and inevitability.
What is Que Sera, Sera?
Jung often explored synchronicity through these recurring symbolic patterns.
What are archetypes?