To get at the right sense of ‘could have done otherwise’, we might offer what I shall call the first compatibilist definition: A subject acted freely if she could have done otherwise in the right sense. The subject could have done otherwise in this sense provided she would have done otherwise if she had chosen differently. And, says the compatibilist, that is all that is needed to justify our reactions of holding people responsible, and perhaps reacting to them with blame and anger.
