Libertarian Free Will: Contemporary Debates

ISBN-13: 9780199860081 / Angielski / Twarda / 2014 / 248 str.

David Palmer

Opis

According to the libertarian position on free will, people sometimes exercise free will, but this freedom is incompatible with the truth of causal determinism. Frequently maligned within the history of philosophy, this view has recently gained increasingly sympathetic attention among philosophers. But stark questions remain: How plausible is this view? If our actions are not causally determined, how can we have control over them? Why should we want our actions to be breaks in the deterministic causal chain?

The recent resurgence of interest in libertarianism is due, most significantly, to Robert Kane, who is the leading contemporary defender of this view of free will. This book is a collection of new essays on the libertarian position on free will and related issues that focuses specifically on the views of Kane. Written by a distinguished group of philosophers, the essays cover various areas of philosophy including metaphysics, ethics, and philosophy of mind. Kane contributes a final essay, replying to the criticisms offered in the previous chapters and developing his view in new directions.

Recenzje

Overall this book provides high quality discussions of many of the most important issues in the free will debate. It would make excellent reading for anyone interested in the current state of the discussion of Kane's views or of the free will debate in general.

O autorze

David Palmer is an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at the University of Tennessee. He specializes in ethics, metaphysics, and philosophy of action. He has published on the topics of free will, moral responsibility, and applied ethics.