 The laws of physics might be thought to imply that we are no more free and responsible for our “choices”, and therefore no more capable of deserving punishment, than any other physical object, be it a falling tree or a wild animal. One can resist this move by arguing that while we are physical beings, most of us have the capacity to weigh reasons for and against particular options, and to choose—these being the key abilities for being responsible agents who can deserve punishment if they choose to do wrong (Fischer and Ravizza 1998; Morse 2004; Nadelhoffer 2013). But this invites the reply that even in normally functioning adults the attribution of responsibility for choices is an illusion (Smilansky 2000). Upon closer inspection, the agent dissolves and all we are left with is a brain responding to stimuli in a way fully consistent with the underlying physical laws (Kelly 2009; Greene &amp; Cohen 2011; Vihvelin 2003 [2018]). See the entry on   compatibilism for a survey   of a range of possible responses to this argument.