Free Will

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.

Freedom and determinism is one of the most troubling questions in philosophy, since if determinism is both true and incompatible with moral responsibility, nothing is unethical. The class I took on this topic was one of the most challenging courses in college, and this book has a great range of authors who provided some inventive and challenging views on this. I'm particularly interested in P. Strawson's essay in this book, where he claims that responsibility does not depend on freedom at all, and Nagel's essay on moral luck, where he talks about how people in different times in history have greater moral decisions to make than other people, and how this impinges on our freedom (e.g., someone in Nazi Germany has greater burdens than someone in America in the 1980s). The reading is provoking, and brings to mind Socrates' statement that he was the wisest of men because he alone knew that he knew nothing. I highly recommend this book.

In Free Will, Watson has brought together an astonishing collection of essays by some of this century's most insightful philosophers. Included are essays by such respected names as Norman Malcolm, A.J. Ayer, Peter Strawson, Daniel C. Dennett, etc. These essays do a wonderful job of bringing to light the problems of free will and determinism, and illustrate many different positions on the subject. If these issues interest you, you must read this book. I couldn't put it down, and when I finished I read it again!