Lesson · 4 min Stretch
Could You Have Done Otherwise?
In one line Frankfurt argued you can be responsible without being able to do otherwise; Strawson grounded blame in our feelings.
Many people assume you are responsible for an act only if you could have done otherwise. In 1969 Harry Frankfurt challenged this with a thought experiment. Jones decides on his own to do something. Unknown to him, Black has a device in his brain and would have forced the same choice if Jones had wavered. Jones could not have done otherwise, yet he seems responsible, because the device never acted.
P. F. Strawson, in Freedom and Resentment from 1962, came at the question differently. Our practice of blame rests on reactive attitudes such as resentment, gratitude and forgiveness, which respond to others’ good or ill will. We suspend them for a small child or someone in the grip of illness, not because of a theory about causes.
Go deeper
Frankfurt cases have produced a long debate. Critics ask whether the device must detect some sign before Jones decides, which might leave him a small alternative after all. Strawson’s approach influenced later accounts that tie responsibility to being answerable to reasons, rather than to settling the metaphysics of determinism first.
The copied report
Ana copies her lab report from a friend. Later she learns the teacher had arranged to hand everyone the same model answers if anyone fell behind, so her grade would have been the same either way.
Ana says it does not matter, since the outcome was fixed. Frankfurt would disagree: the backup never kicked in. She chose to copy, on her own, and that choice is what she answers for.
Try this today Next time you feel resentful, ask what you are really reacting to: the person’s ill will, or just the harm.
Cite or share this lesson
A plain reference you can paste into notes or an essay:
Quest2Reason. “Could You Have Done Otherwise?.” https://quest2reason.com/learn/lesson/could-have-done-otherwise. Accessed 13 November 2026.
Sources
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Alternative Possibilities and Moral Responsibility” — Covers the principle Frankfurt attacked and the debate that followed.
- Wikipedia, “Frankfurt cases” — Sets out the Jones and Black example and its critics.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Moral Responsibility” — Explains Strawson’s reactive attitudes and later accounts.