Exploring the Illusion of Free Will and Moral Responsibility

Gregg D. Caruso

doi:10.5771/9780739177327

Summary

Exploring the Illusion of Free Will and Moral Responsibility investigates the philosophical and scientific arguments for free will skepticism and their implications. Skepticism about free will and moral responsibility has been on the rise in recent years. In fact, a significant number of philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists now either doubt or outright deny the existence of free will and/or moral responsibility—and the list of prominent skeptics appears to grow by the day. Given the profound importance that the concepts of free will and moral responsibility hold in our lives—in understanding ourselves, society, and the law—it is important that we explore what is behind this new wave of skepticism. It is also important that we explore the potential consequences of skepticism for ourselves and society. Edited by Gregg D. Caruso, this collection of new essays brings together an internationally recognized line-up of contributors, most of whom hold skeptical positions of some sort, to display and explore the leading arguments for free will skepticism and to debate their implications.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2013
ISBN-Print: 978-0-7391-7731-0
ISBN-Online: 978-0-7391-7732-7
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 324
Product type: Edited Book

1. Contents No access
2. Acknowledgments No access
Introduction No access Pages 1 - 16
1. 1 Skepticism about Free Will No access
2. 2 The Impossibility of Ultimate Responsibility? No access
3. 3 Determinism, Incompatibilism and Compatibilism, Actual Consciousness and Subjective Physical Worlds, Humanity No access
4. 4 The Stubborn Illusion of Moral Responsibility No access
5. 5 Be a Skeptic, Not a Metaskeptic No access
6. 6 Free Will as a Case of “Crazy Ethics” No access
7. 7 The Potential Dark Side of Believing in Free Will (and Related Concepts) No access
8. 8 The People Problem No access
9. 9 Living Without Free Will No access
10. 10 If Free Will Doesn’t Exist, Neither Does Water No access
11. 11 Free Will and Error No access
1. 12 The Complex Network of Intentions No access
2. 13 Experience and Autonomy No access
3. 14 What Does the Brain Know and When Does It Know It? No access
4. 15 If Free Will Did Not Exist, It Would Be Necessary to Invent It No access
5. 16 Free Will, an Illusion? No access
References No access Pages 291 - 310
Index No access Pages 311 - 320
About the Contributors No access Pages 321 - 324