Quantifying moral freedom from an informational approach

Abstract

We introduce a quantitative-informational definition of moral freedom. We adopt, as a point of reference, the philosophical conception according to which freedom presupposes choice, that is, selection of one action to the detriment of others. This assumption is also used in the Mathematical Theory of Communication when defining the amount of information in a source. Although they have different contents, meanings and objectives, we seek to bring together this common idea in both perspectives, applying the quantification of information to moral freedom, defined here in the context of moral responsibility from the Aristotelian perspective. We begin by presenting the adopted conception of freedom and related concepts, such as vice and virtue. Next, we expose the quantitative perspective of information. We then define the amount of freedom in a moral source and discuss some of its scope and limits.