Free Will and the Human Sciences in Britain, 1870-1910

From the late nineteenth century onwards religion gave way to science as the dominant force in society. This led to a questioning of the principle of free will-if the workings of the human mind could be reduced to purely physiological explanations, then what place was there for human agency and self-improvement?

Smith takes an in-depth look at the problem of free will through the prism of different disciplines. Physiology, psychology, philosophy, evolutionary theory, ethics, history and soci...