Causal determinism is the concept that previous causes give rise to everything that exists such that reality can only be what it is. Science depends on this idea because it aims to find generalizations about the conjunction of certain causes and effects and thus holds some predictive power about their future co-occurrence. However, in human interactions, people assume that everyone is responsible for their actions and are not simply responding to the whims of causal laws. So the question that troubles philosophers is whether causality entirely dictates the course of human action or whether we, as agents, possess some freedom of will. I will argue that free will is an inevitable illusion of the mind, something that never existed and could never exist under causal determinism. Compatibilists propose that free will and determinism coexist, whereas for incompatibilists this would be impossible. If we are to decide for ourselves, we must first establish the meanings of causal determinism and freedom of will. Proponents of causal determinism argue that1. Every event has a cause2. Human actions constitute a kind of event3. Thus every human action has a cause4. Every action ever performed is nothing more than an inevitable consequence of previous conditions in the universe. Thus, if causal determinism is true, humans have no capacity to choose or will, because nothing could ever be other than it is. (McFee. 2000, p. 21) Free will is a much more elusive notion. However, the authors seem to agree on some aspects. In his article Has the Self “Free Will”? Campbell suggests that effective free will is confined to the realm of moral decisions. He asserts that to exercise free will, an agent must be the sole author of an act, and not simply give in in the middle of a paper... to an escapist illusion of the mind. Just as Strawson argues that the truth of determinism would not make agents less morally responsible, I believe that the falsity of free will does not detract from its usefulness in clarifying our mental narratives and explaining the origins of our actions. Works Cited Fischer, JM (Ed. .). (2005). Free will: critical concepts in philosophy. Abingdon: Routledge. McFee, G. (2000). Free will. Teddington: Acumen Publishing. Perry, J., Bratman, M., & Fischer, J.M. (2010). Introduction to philosophy: classic and contemporary readings. (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. Perry, J., Bratman, M. and Fischer, JM 1998). Introduction to philosophy: classic and contemporary readings. (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. Campbell, C. A. (1957) On Selfhood and Godhood, London: George, Allen & Unwin.