On the Issue of Free Will, Hume Is a Compatibilist

On the issue of free will, Hume is a compatibilist, persuaded that determinism (necessity) can be reconciled with free will (liberty). In this reading he maintains that reconciliation is possible if we define liberty as "a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will." The idea is that you act freely when your act is caused by your will (desires, motivations, etc.), even though your will is determined. If your will determines your actions, then they come from you, and you can therefore be held responsible for them. A will that is not itself caused is neither possible nor desirable.
-Hume says that an opinion is not false just because it leads to bad consequences.