The Significance of Free Will

by Robert Kane

Overview

In the past quarter-century, there has been a resurgence of interest in philosophical questions about free will. After a clear and broad-reaching survey of these recent debates, Robert Kane presents his own controversial view. Arguing persuasively for a traditional incompatibilist or libertarian conception of free will, Kane demonstrates that such a conception can be made intelligible without appeals to obscure or mysterious forms of agency and thus can be reconciled with a contemporary scientific picture of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195105506
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/21/1996
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.31(w) x 9.44(h) x 1.09(d)
Lexile:	1520L (what's this?)

About the Author

University of Texas at Austin

Table of Contents

1.. IntroductionI. The Ascent Problem:Compatibility and Significance2.. Will3.. Responsibility4.. Alternative Possibilities5.. Ultimate Responsibility6.. SignificanceII. The Descent Problem: Intelligibility and Existence7.. Plurality and Indeterminism8.. Moral and Prudential Choice9.. Efforts, Purposes, and Practical Reason10.. Objections and Responses11.. ConclusionNotesReferencesIndex

Editorial Reviews

"Provides the most fully articulated, the most comprehensive, and the best case for libertarianism that has ever been devised."—Richard Double, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

"A magisterial work [that] culminates twenty-five years of thinking about the problems of free will. For those who believe both that robust free will cannot survive in a deterministic climate and that a viable free will need be scientifically respectable, Kane's work may prove salvific."—Mark Bernstein, University of Texas at San Antonio

"For more than a decade Robert Kane has vigorously defended libertarian free will in prose and print. Significance represents his definitive statement and it is a truly splendid book. Remarkably well organized and original, Significance requires rethinking standard convictions in the freedom/determinism debate about explanation, causation, responsibility, and worth. It's a must read for philosophers, psychologists, and cognitive scientists."—George Graham, University of Alabama at Birmingham

"This is, quite simply, the most thoughtful and detailed defense of libertarianism currently available." —Alfred R. Mele, Davidson College

",,,complex and carefully argued..."—Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher