Free Will: A Guide for the Perplexed

Description

In everyday life, we often suppose ourselves to be free to choose between several courses of action. But if we examine further, we find that this view seems to rest on metaphysical and meta-ethical presuppositions almost all of which look problematic. How can we be free if everything is determined by factors beyond our control, stretching back in time to the Big Bang and the laws of nature operating then? The only alternative to determinism is indeterminism, but is not indeterminism just there being a certain amount of randomness in the world? Does not randomness hinder you from being the author of your actions? Free Will: A Guide for the Perplexed looks at how much of the structure of our everyday judgments can survive the arguments behind such questions and thoughts. In doing so, it explores the alternative arguments that have been advanced concerning free will and related notions, including an up-to-date overview of the contemporary debates. In essence, the book seeks to understand and answer the age-old question, 'What is free will and do we have it?'

T. J. Mawson is Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at St Peter's College, Oxford University. He is the author of Belief in God: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2005).

"An engagingly-written and thought-provoking introduction to the free will problem, full of innovative examples and arguments; and at the same time an original defense of a distinctive libertarian view of free will." -- Robert Kane, University Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and Professor of Law at The University of Texas at Austin, and editor of The Oxford Handbook of Free Will. "Stimulating and engaging: Mawson is a genial guide, drawing the reader into an extended conversation on a perennially perplexing problem of philosophy. The standard ground is covered, but with regular original touches - and, if perplexity is not removed altogether by Mawson's common sense defence of an agent-causalist libertarianism, at least it will be a perplexity better understood." -- John Bishop, Professor of Philosophy, The University of Auckland, New Zealand Timothy Mawson's book is a valuable contribution to this series, introducing the reader to the fascinating but often complex philosophical issues pertaining to the discussion of free will. -- Ethical Perspectives Vol. 18