Causal determinism is the idea that every physical event has not only a preceding physical cause, but a cause that is such that, if the cause were to occur and the event not, then a law of physics would be broken. In that sense, determinism is the thesis that all events are determined to happen by the events (or states of the universe) that precede them, taken together with the laws of physics.
Now, whether causal determinism is true or not, it seems that free will, and therefore responsibility (a prerequisite for which is that a person acted freely), is nonsensical. Here’s why. Either human actions are physical events likewise determined by prior physical causes (states) taken together with governing laws of nature, or they are not. If they are, then it seems that for any actions we perform, we had no choice but to perform them, which leaves no room for our freely (and therefore responsibly) willing that they occur. However, if human actions are not so determined, then it seems that they happen at random – no prior cause brings them about; and, if that’s the case, then no human choice brought them about, which sadly leaves us no room for responsibility or agency either! | |||