Compatibility of Causes and Computations

Patrick Suppes
Stanford University

This paper addresses five questions.  First, how are acts of computation, usually intentional, related to the endless sequence of surrounding physical causes? Second, does it matter for computation whether relevant physical causes are deterministic or probabilistic? Third, how does the normative concept of correct computation relate to the actual process of computation? Fourth, at the normative level does the concept of correct computation correspond
to the morally correct thing to do in the context of personal conduct? Fifth, on the basis of the answers to the first four questions, does there remain a conceptual problem about free will?