ABSTRACT
Whichever metaphysical or epistemological issues one chooses to discuss will be difficult for beginners. Its advantages for pedagogical purposes are that it can be briefly presented in the form of an argument with two premises and a conclusion, its most obvious solutions are each plausible but together incompatible, and its connection to issues about moral and legal responsibility can easily be made apparent. The chapter focuses on determinism and leave fatalism for another setting. To motivate the issue of freedom and determinism, it uses the famous 1924 Leopold and Loeb case. The chapter thereby ties the issue to a practical context and illustrates how philosophical issues can arise outside a classroom. It also discusses the hard determinism and soft determinism. The libertarian has to overcome the plausible claim that every event is caused, whether a loud noise, a change in the weather, or a human action.
