Reasons-Sensitivity, Causes and Counterfactuals

In her book Causation and Free Will, Carolina Sartorio has developed an actual-sequence account of free will in terms of sensitivity to reasons. In this paper, I try to give a sense of Sartorio's account and to distinguish it from other proposals on offer. After that, I bring to light some problems of her view. I argue, first, that Sartorio's thesis that absences can be causes is highly contentious; second, I hold that, if counterfactuals are not explanatorily fundamental, as she defends, actual causes do not seem to be so, either; third, I contend that freedom and reasons-sensitivity seem to rest on non-causal properties and structures. Finally, I hold that Sartorio's arguments for the view that moral responsibility is not exclusively grounded in actual causes apply to free will as well.