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Review
"Excellent anthology!"--James Coley, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
"An excellent collection."--Susan Sauve, Harvard University
"Excellent--exactly what I need for my free will course."--George B. Thomas, University of Virginia
"Outstanding and much needed."--Don Garrett, University of Utah
"An excellent collection of recent work on the ever-perplexing issues of mechanism and free will."--Lynne Rudder Baker, Middlebury College
Product Description
The new edition of this highly successful text will once again provide the ideal introduction to free will. This volume brings together some of the most influential contributions to the topic of free will during the past 50 years, as well as some notable recent work. Topics explored in this collection include: the relation between necessity, acting freely, and freedom to act otherwise; different accounts of the capacity for free agency, and the ways in which it can be compromised; grounds for scepticism about free agency and discussions of the relation between free will and responsibility.
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First Sentence
1. The metaphysical problem of human freedom might be summarized in the following way: Human beings are responsible agents; but this fact appears to conflict with a deterministic view of human action (the view that every event that is involved in an act is caused by some other event); and it also appears to conflict with an deterministic view of human action (the view that the act, or some event that is essential to the act, is not caused at all.) Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
1. The metaphysical problem of human freedom might be summarized in the following way: Human beings are responsible agents; but this fact appears to conflict with a deterministic view of human action (the view that every event that is involved in an act is caused by some other event); and it also appears to conflict with an deterministic view of human action (the view that the act, or some event that is essential to the act, is not caused at all.) Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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3 reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Don't overestimate a simple textbook
14 Oct 2004
It is easy to overestimate a book from Oxford University Press with the brief title "Free Will." One is inclined to think that this will describe all of the in's and out's of the ancient and fascinating problem. Though a little reflection ought to make clear that no book of 450-odd pages could ever do justice to the task, it is still an impression that is hard to shake.
Be advised that is a textbook--it is meant to introduce particular subject matter to students. It is not an introduction to the problem of free will and it is not a solution to the problem of free will. Just as the back cover states: "This volume brings together some of the most influential contributions to the topic...[made] during the past 50 years, as well as some notable recent work." This means three things:
1. The essays are those mainstream academic philosophers consider to be the most influential essays published on the subject since World War II, as well as a few that the editor thought would be interesting to throw in.
2. These essays are collected so that it is relatively cheap and easy to get at them. Few would be willing to dig through The Proceedings of the British Academy from 1962, for example. Still others of these essays could not be obtained in print anywhere else, such as Chisholm's and Watson's excellent introduction.
3. Expect only passing reference to ancient, Medieval, Enlightenment, and "Continental" treatment of the question. Remember that this is coming from from Anglophones, who do not generally read contemporary philosophy from outside their world.
Once one understands these limitations, one can appreciate the book for what it is: an engaging, informative, and very useful introduction to a cross-section of the free will debate. These essays are very good and have been influential for good reason.
One thing I did find disappointing, though, was the dropping of Charles Taylor's "Responsibility for Self" from the first edition. That is a marvelous essay that looks at the problem in a new way under the influence of Hegel and Heidegger.
Be advised that is a textbook--it is meant to introduce particular subject matter to students. It is not an introduction to the problem of free will and it is not a solution to the problem of free will. Just as the back cover states: "This volume brings together some of the most influential contributions to the topic...[made] during the past 50 years, as well as some notable recent work." This means three things:
1. The essays are those mainstream academic philosophers consider to be the most influential essays published on the subject since World War II, as well as a few that the editor thought would be interesting to throw in.
2. These essays are collected so that it is relatively cheap and easy to get at them. Few would be willing to dig through The Proceedings of the British Academy from 1962, for example. Still others of these essays could not be obtained in print anywhere else, such as Chisholm's and Watson's excellent introduction.
3. Expect only passing reference to ancient, Medieval, Enlightenment, and "Continental" treatment of the question. Remember that this is coming from from Anglophones, who do not generally read contemporary philosophy from outside their world.
Once one understands these limitations, one can appreciate the book for what it is: an engaging, informative, and very useful introduction to a cross-section of the free will debate. These essays are very good and have been influential for good reason.
One thing I did find disappointing, though, was the dropping of Charles Taylor's "Responsibility for Self" from the first edition. That is a marvelous essay that looks at the problem in a new way under the influence of Hegel and Heidegger.
11 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Unless you lack free will, keep looking for an alternative
9 July 2003
The selection of essays is standard; the production standards of the book are low. Since the first edition, Oxford University Press has transferred this title to digital printing, which means that the book's typeface is 'dirty' and of fax quality. As this is a mere reprint (of the aforementioned bad technical quality) it also does not contain any new writing on the problem of free will. This books is not good value for money; most of the classic papers can be found in other anthologies, such as the one in the Hackett series, while the more recent ones reflect a biased perspective from 15 years ago.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
excellent condition
2 Nov 2010
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I got this for a paper and it was extremely useful. The shipper was fast to send and the condition was perfect.
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