Wed. 11/8: pp. 185-190 (§§I-III)

Fri. 11/20: pp. 190-195 (§§IV-V)

Frankfurt is clear enough about what he is doing in each section of this article that I won’t offer an overview of the content. The article concerns what Frankfurt calls “the principle of alternative possibilities,” which is stated at the very beginning; his discussion of this principle is structured around a series of examples, Jones₁-Jones₄, and much of our discussion will be devoted to them as well.

So you should look carefully at Frankfurt’s descriptions of these examples and think about the significance he gives to them, especially the last, which appears in the assignment for Fri. You should also pay special attention to Frankfurt’s discussion near the end (p. 194) of how the principle he has criticized in the article might be revised. Beyond that, I’ll just suggest that you recall the Stoic example of a dog tied to a cart (Pereboom, pp. 13-14).