ABSTRACT
Certain intuitions about human agency are universal and foundational. There are clashing views over whether free will exists, or whether determinism is compatible with moral responsibility-but nobody doubts that some of our actions are the product of choice and others are accidents. We draw upon this distinction when we assess whether somebody is guilty of a wrongdoing, deserves praise for an accomplishment, or is acting rationally. Our concept of choice gures in more banal aspects of our life as well, as when we reason about our own behaviors. It is hard to imagine what life would be like being unable to tell if our own actions were done on purpose or by accident-unable to appreciate the difference, say, between calling the person you wanted to speak to versus dialing a wrong number.
