ABSTRACT
The idea is to use this as an analogy for constructing a compatibilist theory of what it is for the will to be free. Bear in mind that there are other ways besides forming desires to get organisms to perform actions that satisfy their biological needs. Bacteria are capable of behaviors that satisfy their needs, but they don’t have minds to help them do this. The suggestion, then, is that the DGD has the function of representing what would be good for the organism; it isn’t part of this suggestion that a DGD is the only way to get an organism to act so as to satisfy its needs. Kleptomaniacs want to steal even though stealing isn’t good for them; indeed, kleptomaniacs sometimes want to steal even when they know that it isn’t good for them to have this want. Hume thought the crucial consideration was whether the agent’s desires control the agent’s behavior.
