Editing Indeterminism (section)

====Robert Kane====
Kane is one of the leading contemporary philosophers on [[free will]].<ref name = "KaneFreeWill">Kane, R. (ed.) ''Oxford Handbook of Free Will''</ref><ref>[http://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/philosophers/kane/ Information Philosophers] "Robert Kane is the acknowledged dean of the libertarian philosophers writing actively on the free will problem."</ref>  Advocating what is termed within philosophical circles "[[Libertarianism (metaphysics)|libertarian]] freedom", Kane argues that "(1) the existence of alternative possibilities (or the agent's power to do otherwise) is a necessary condition for acting freely, and (2) determinism is not compatible with alternative possibilities (it precludes the power to do otherwise)".<ref>Kane (ed.): ''Oxford Handbook of Free Will'', p. 11.</ref>  It is important to note that the crux of Kane's position is grounded not in a defense of alternative possibilities (AP) but in the notion of what Kane refers to as ultimate responsibility (UR).  Thus, AP is a necessary but insufficient criterion for free will.  It is necessary that there be ([[Metaphysics|metaphysically]]) real alternatives for our actions, but that is not enough; our actions could be random without being in our control.  The control is found in "ultimate responsibility".

What allows for ultimate responsibility of creation in Kane's picture are what he refers to as "self-forming actions" or SFAs — those moments of indecision during which people experience conflicting wills.  These SFAs are the undetermined, regress-stopping voluntary actions or refrainings in the life histories of agents that are required for UR.  UR does not require that ''every'' act done of our own free will be undetermined and thus that, for every act or choice, we could have done otherwise; it requires only that certain of our choices and actions be undetermined (and thus that we could have done otherwise), namely SFAs.  These form our character or nature; they inform our future choices, reasons and motivations in action.  If a person has had the opportunity to make a character-forming decision (SFA), he is responsible for the actions that are a result of his character.