The degree of our conception of freedom or inevitability depends in this respect on the greater or lesser lapse of time between the performance of the action and our judgement of it. If I examine an act I performed a moment ago in approximately the same circumstances as those I am in now, my action appears to me undoubtedly free. But if I examine an act performed a month ago, then, being in different circumstances, I cannot help recognising that, if that act had not been committed, much that resulted from it—good, agreeable, and even essential—would not have taken place.
