ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how the problem of free will and determinism is conceived in Western philosophy, and reviews some considerations in Buddhist thought that have been believed to have some bearing on the problem. Compatibilist Approaches Compatibilism is the view that, despite appearances, determinism is compatible with freedom. However, Asaf Federman claims that Buddhism accepted freedom in the sense of the will being able to control one's actions as long as there are no constraints preventing this. For Federman, freedom in this sense is a crucial feature of the Buddha's liberation project, both the path to liberation and ultimately liberation itself. For Goodman, Buddhist teaching is incompatible with the ascription of free will and moral responsibility on account of the no-self doctrine and a kind of causal determinism that rules out the notion of agent causation commonly employed in libertarian accounts.
