The Problem of Freedom and Determinism

Suppose that on your way home one day you discover someone else's ­wallet on the sidewalk. It's full of cash, credit cards, and so forth. But it also contains a driver's license, from which you can tell that the wallet belongs to a fellow who lives nearby, in a house that you'll pass on your way home. You deliberate about what to do. You could return the wallet to its owner with all of its contents intact, of course. Or you could return it after taking out some of the cash, or return it after taking out all of the cash, or just leave it where it is, or take out the cash and then leave it where it is. Suppose that while deliberating, you keep thinking about how you would really like to use the money to buy a bunch of new computer games. So in the end, even though you feel a little guilty about doing so, you decide to take all the cash and then leave the wallet where you found it. And that's what you do.

Now let's shift gears for a minute. We all know that the future is to some extent influenced by the past. For example, pink elephants don't just appear out of thin air. In order for a pink elephant to appear in a place, there has to be some sort of history leading up to that elephant being in that place.