ABSTRACT
This chapter contains a very brief introduction to free will, followed by a thought experiment. Arguments about whether or not people have free will are old and familiar. The central idea, concerns whether an individual has sufficient control over their actions, such that, although they in fact performed a particular action, they did not have to; they could have chosen to do otherwise. The thought experiment explains whether or not a boy named Alex is free. It is followed by a short discussion and then a series of questions. The questions are intended to get the philosophy students thinking about the problems. They have used these kinds of questions in seminars as the questions set for seminars, so they also think that they can be used to spark conversation and discussion. The chapter also gives a cursory sketch of some of the ways in which philosophers have responded to the thought experiment.
