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date: 06 July 2022

Abstract and Keywords

This article surveys the most recent versions of the Consequence Argument and objections to them. It considers objections made to some of the more well-known versions of the argument and recent attempts by defenders to answer these objections by offering reformulated versions of it. Many objections involve a principle van Inwagen called “Beta,” which is regarded by many as the most controversial assumption of the argument. Beta is a “transfer of powerlessness” principle, which states, roughly, that if you are powerless to change something “p” (e.g., the past or the laws of nature), then you are also powerless to change any of the logical consequences of “p.” The discussion considers various formulations of Beta as well as purported counterexamples to it and responses to these counterexamples by current defenders of the Consequence Argument.

Keywords: van Inwagen, Consequence Argument, powerlessness, Beta

Daniel Speak

Daniel Speak is associate professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside in 2002. His published work on free will and moral responsibility includes “Fanning the Flicker of Freedom” (American Philosophical Quarterly, 2001), “Toward an Axiological Defense of Libertarianism” (Philosophical Topics, 2004), and “The Impertinence of Frankfurt-Style Argument” (The Philosophical Quarterly, 2007). He is also interested in more general issues in metaphysics and the philosophy of religion.

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