A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will (Fundamentals of Philosophy Series)

Let me warn the reader, Robert Kane's Book is "A CONTEMPORARY Introduction to Free Will", not an Introduction to free will.The Book focuses mostly on contemporary debates whose origin usually does not go back beyond the last quarter of the twentieth century. It is the reason that Kane's book is so relevant. It sums up for a wider public the collection of essays published by various authors in his "Oxford Handbook of Free Will". Kane is considered as one of the leading contemporary philosophers on free will and he has developed his own theory. Kane considers alternative possibilities as a necessary but insufficient condition of free will which requires "ultimate responsibility", i-e a moral or rational control of the subject on his action. A free act is an act we can claim responsibility for and there must be sufficient reasons for acting the way we act. All chapter 12 is devoted to this question. Although Kane describes himself as a libertarian, his position often come close to compatibilism and when reading the first chapters of the book I found that the general tone of the book is leading more toward compatibilism than libertarianism. The contemporary discussion on Free Will is so complex that usually the public never hear about that important debate. Nevertheless Robert Kane has made a wonderful job, guiding us through all the arguments and counter arguments. It gives the impression of watching a chess contest by world class players. Each move seems to be decisive until comes the counter move. In another essay Kane has called free will a "labyrinth" and the general impression given by the book is that the debate will remain inconclusive. It is not to surprise me. McGinn in is book "Problems in Philosophy" has demonstrated that the problem of free will, like the problem of consciousness, will never be solved because of our cognitive limitations. It does not mean that the debate is not important. Even if the problem does not have a rational solution, no one can be a serious thinker without embracing one of the three positions between libertarianism, determinism and compatibilism because adopting one these positions determines the type of moral theory one might adopt. I do not give five stars to the book because of two weaknesses. The first weakness is the lack of proper definition of determinism. Kane gives a very narrow definition of determinism that makes determinism almost synonymous with necessity. In fact he is mostly referring to singular determinism, the determinism of local events that can be inevitable or necessary, not of general determinism that see determinism as the general structure of the universe. For him determinism is "a kind of necessity, but it is a conditional necessity". This is very different from general determinism which is the belief that any event the world, including human behaviour, is the result of an unbroken causal chain. By choosing this narrow approach Kane brush away all the problem of determinism in science. The chapter on "Free Will and the Modern Science" is extremely weak, probably because Kane is not personally interested in this kind of debate. The second weakness is a consequence of the first one. Although the book claims to be an introduction to the contemporary debate on fee will, it is far from covering all the spectrum of recent theories. Kane does not present a convincing description of the naturalist and physicalist view on free will that present free will as "a post hoc rationalization, a delusion" (Ramachandran). Once again it is not that Kane is ignorant of the subject. Occasionally we find a few references to Smilansky's Free Will and Illusion, and Double's The Non-Reality of Free Will. But I did not find any reference to Wegner important book "The Illusion of Conscious Will" which was published three years before Kane's Introduction. Being myself more a compatibilist than a libertarian I do not think that Kane has made a good job in presenting a neutral description of determinism of the kind you expect to find in an introductory book for students and the general public and by ignoring some of his adversaries main objections he has weakened his own defence of libertarianism. However, this sort of book being so rare I consider that its reading is mandatory for any one interested in the question of free will. A Contemporary Introduction To Free Will Provides An Extensive And Overview Of All The Views On This Central Problem Of Philosophy. Opening With A Concise Introduction To The History Of The Problem Of Freewill--and Its Place In The History Of Philosophy--the Book Then Turns To Contemporary Debates And Theories About Free Will, Determinism, And Related Subjects Like Moral Responsibility, Coercion, Compulsion, Autonomy, Agency, Rationality, Freedom, And More. Classical Compatibilist And New Compatibilist Theories Of Free Will Are Considered Along With The Latest Incompatibilist Or Libertarian Theories And The Most Recent Skeptical Challenges To Free Will. Separate Chapters Are Devoted To The Relation Of Free Will To Moral Responsibility And Ethics; To Modern Science; And To Religious Questions About Predestination, Divine Foreknowledge, And Human Freedom. Numerous Down-to-earth Examples And Challenging Thought Experiments Enliven The Text. The Free Will Problem -- Compatibilism -- Incompatibilism -- Libertarianism, Indeterminism And Chance -- Minds, Selves And Agent Causes -- Actions, Reasons And Causes -- Is Free Will Possible? : Hard Determinists And Other Skeptics -- Moral Responsibility And Alternative Possibilities -- Higher-order Desires, Real Selves And New Compatibilists -- Reactive Attitude Theories -- Ultimate Responsibility -- Free Will And Modern Science -- Predestination, Divine Foreknowledge And Free Will -- Conclusion: Five Freedoms. Robert Kane. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 175-183) And Index. Annotation Accessible to students with no background in the subject, A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will provides an extensive and up-to-date overview of all the latest views on this central problem of philosophy. Opening with a concise introduction to the history of the problem of free will--and its place in the history of philosophy--the book then turns to contemporary debates and theories about free will, determinism, and related subjects like moral responsibility, coercion,compulsion, autonomy, agency, rationality, freedom, and more. Classical compatibilist and new compatibilist theories of free will are considered along with the latest incompatibilist or libertarian theories and the most recent skeptical challenges to free will. Separate chapters are devoted to the relation offree will to moral responsibility and ethics; to modern science; and to religious questions about predestination, divine foreknowledge, and human freedom. Numerous down-to-earth examples and challenging thought experiments enliven the the text. The book is an ideal addition to introduction to philosophy, metaphysics, and free will courses Accessible to students with no background in the subject, "A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will" provides an extensive and up-to-date overview of all the latest views on this central problem of philosophy. Opening with a concise introduction to the history of the problem of free will - and its place in the history of philosophy - the book then turns to contemporary debates and theories about free will, determinism, and related subjects like moral responsibility, coercion, compulsion, autonomy, agency, rationality, freedom, and more. Classical compatibilist and new compatibilist theories of free will are considered along with the latest incompatibilist or libertarian theories and the most recent skeptical challenges to free will. Separate chapters are devoted to the relation of free will to moral responsibility and ethics; to modern science; and to religious questions about predestination, divine foreknowledge, and human freedom. Numerous down-to-earth examples and challenging thought experiments enliven the text. The book is an ideal addition to introduction to philosophy, metaphysics, and free will courses. Philosophy Table of Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Chapter 1: The Free Will Problem 12 Chapter 2: Compatibilism 23 Chapter 3: Incompatibilism 34 Chapter 4: Libertarianism, Indeterminism, and Chance 43 Chapter 5: Minds, Selves, and Agent Causes 51 Chapter 6: Actions, Reasons, and Causes 64 Chapter 7: Is Free Will Possible? Hard Determinists and Other Skeptics 78 Chapter 8: Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities 91 Chapter 9: Higher-order Desires, Real Selves, and New Compatibilists 104 Chapter 10: Reactive Attitude Theories 118 Chapter 11: Ultimate Responsibility 131 Chapter 12: Free Will and Modern Science 143 Chapter 13: Predestination, Divine Foreknowledge, and Free Will 158 Chapter 14: Conclusion: Five Freedoms 174 Notes 186 Index 196 This is a comprehensive introduction to the traditional problem of free will and determinism. Written in language accessible to students and others with no prior knowledge of the subject, the text nonetheless manages to provide a comprehensive overview of all the latest views on this central problem of philosophy