An Essay on Free Will

An Essay on Free Will
Author: Peter Van Inwagen
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
Total Pages: 248
Release: 1983
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0198249241

Discusses the incompatibility of the concepts of free will and determinism and argues that moral responsibility needs the doctrine of free will

Thinking about Free Will

Thinking about Free Will
Author: Peter van Inwagen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2017-03-16
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1107166500

This volume brings together van Inwagen's most significant essays in this major field, addressing key topics and including two entirely new chapters.

Fate, Time, and Language

Fate, Time, and Language
Author: David Foster Wallace
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2011
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0231151578

Presents David Foster Wallace critiques philosopher Richard Taylor's work implying that humans have no control over the future and includes essays linking Wallace's critique with his later works of fiction.

Our Fate

Our Fate
Author: John Martin Fischer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2016
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199311293

Our Fate collects John Martin Fischer's previously published articles on the relationship between God's foreknowledge and human freedom. The book includes a substantial new introductory essay that puts all of the chapters into a cohesive framework, and presents a bold new account of God's foreknowledge of free actions in a causally indeterministic world.

Bound

Bound
Author: Shaun Nichols
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2015
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199291845

Shaun Nichols offers a naturalistic, psychological account of the origins of the problem of free will. He argues that our belief in indeterminist choice is grounded in faulty inference and therefore unjustified, goes on to suggest that there is no single answer to whether free will exists, and promotes a pragmatic approach to prescriptive issues.

Four Views on Free Will

Four Views on Free Will
Author: John Martin Fischer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2009-02-04
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1405182040

Focusing on the concepts and interactions of free will, moralresponsibility, and determinism, this text represents the mostup-to-date account of the four major positions in the free willdebate. Four serious and well-known philosophers explore the opposingviewpoints of libertarianism, compatibilism, hard incompatibilism,and revisionism The first half of the book contains each philosopher’sexplanation of his particular view; the second half allows them todirectly respond to each other’s arguments, in a lively andengaging conversation Offers the reader a one of a kind, interactive discussion Forms part of the acclaimed Great Debates in Philosophyseries

Free Will

Free Will
Author: Sam Harris
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2012-03-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1451683405

From the New York Times bestselling author of The End of Faith, a thought-provoking, "brilliant and witty" (Oliver Sacks) look at the notion of free will—and the implications that it is an illusion. A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion. In this enlightening book, Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life.

The Metasphysics of Free Will

The Metasphysics of Free Will
Author: John Martin Fischer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 294
Release: 1995-10-09
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1557868573

The Metaphysics of Free Will provides a through statement of the major grounds for skepticism about the reality of free will and moral responsibility. The author identifies and explains the sort of control that is associated with personhood and accountability, and shows how it is consistent with causal determinism. In so doing, out view of ourselves as morally responsible agents is protected against the disturbing changes posed by science and religion.

Judging and Understanding

Judging and Understanding
Author: Pedro Alexis Tabensky
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2006
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780754653950

This collection embodies a debate that explores the tension between judging and understanding. It brings together work dealing with the moral, metaphysical, epistemological and phenomenological issues required for understanding whether or not there is a tension between judging and understanding and what the moral and legal implications may be of accepting or rejecting this tension.

Merit, Meaning, and Human Bondage

Merit, Meaning, and Human Bondage
Author: Nomy Arpaly
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 158
Release: 2009-08-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1400824508

Perhaps everything we think, feel, and do is determined, and humans--like stones or clouds--are slaves to the laws of nature. Would that be a terrible state? Philosophers who take the incompatibilist position think so, arguing that a deterministic world would be one without moral responsibility and perhaps without true love, meaningful art, and real rationality. But compatibilists and semicompatibilists argue that determinism need not worry us. As long as our actions stem, in an appropriate way, from us, or respond in some way to reasons, our actions are meaningful and can be judged on their moral (or other) merit. In this highly original work, Nomy Arpaly argues that a deterministic world does not preclude moral responsibility, rationality, and love--in short, meaningful lives--but that there would still be something lamentable about a deterministic world. A person may respond well to reasons, and her actions may faithfully reflect her true self or values, but she may still feel that she is not free. Arpaly argues that compatibilists and semicompatibilists are wrong to dismiss this feeling--for which there are no philosophical consolations--as philosophically irrelevant. On the way to this bittersweet conclusion, Arpaly sets forth surprising theories about acting for reasons, the widely accepted idea that "ought implies can," moral blame, and more.