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Afraid to Believe in Free Will: The Human Tendency to Avoid Responsibility for Free Choices
Free will is a frightening yet magnificent part of what it means to be human. Dr. Carl Begley analyzes and uncovers how we defend against the fearful elements of our God-given freedom, diminishing our individual dignity and magnificence. This book recommends the sometimes difficult path of honoring our free will by forgoing excuses. When we recognize and take responsibility for our choices, we can enjoy the optimism that comes with personal empowerment.
176 pages, Paperback
First published May 16, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 7, 2014
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for an honest review.]
It should be admitted at the outset that this is not a book for everyone, but those people who can read this book and appreciate it for what it is should find it immensely enjoyable. It is a book from a Christian publisher, and a book that might at first glance appear to be an entry into the Calvnist/Arminian debate, but this is not what the book is about at all. Instead, the book is written from a scientific and often psychological perspective about free will and the argument about free will in a way that is very dry and technical but also fascinating for its wide-ranging thoughts and implications. These implications are supported with research and explained with a sound and technical analysis that is impressive even if it not necessarily readily accessible.
Included in this book are a few chapters that are likely to rile some major and entrenched interests dealing with the question of free will and its implications for responsibility. One of the chapters of the book examines the cult of science, including its effects on the pedophile priest scandal of the Roman Catholic Church and their mistaken reliance on the effectiveness of therapy in dealing with deviant priests. Then the next chapter examines the tragedy of charity when it enables people to be dependent on the government and fail to develop the capacity for living competent and responsible lives, including the politics of categorizing homosexuality and the denial of free will in the restraint or gratification of deviant sexual desires. These chapters are powerfully written, but not likely to win the author any friends among those entrenched interests.
It should be noted, in the interests of completeness, that this book takes a very large detour in its larger discussion of free will to take a whack at the hornet’s nest of the political correctness that is involved in homosexuality and pedophilia, and takes a lot of time to discuss a controversy that took place because of confusion over organizations with similar names and the use of scientific studies for immoral purposes by various groups in ways that show how the political bias of scientific organizations tends to lead to a great mistrust of even encouraging scientific results because of the context of political and moral corruption. It is only after all of this lengthy discussion about the politics and science of the argument over free will that the author turns belatedly to religious arguments about free will. Even here, though, the author discusses free will from the perspective of Shakespeare and Jung far more easily than that of theologians or the Bible itself.
At its heart, this is a book that wrestles honestly and openly with the implications of free will and some of the reasons why free will has been denied or downplayed throughout history and in our contemporary society. By making a strong stand for personal responsibility, he takes a stance that may be viewed unsympathetically, but does so with a great deal of integrity and with a clear eye towards the sort of opposition he faces in our current societal discourse. The fact that the author is able to handle so many texts, from cartoons to psychology books, suggests the author’s vast knowledge of the subject and his awareness of the fact that even in a heavily technical book that humor can help make the author’s points about a tragic or realistic optimism that does not wallow in learned helplessness. By the time the book finishes with a discussion of charity versus coerced giving, one understands that this author has thought long and hard about the political implications of the doctrine of free will, and does so with a degree of graciousness and compassion that is not always easy to recognize because of the passionate ways he makes his points. As this is a problem I share, I have more than a little empathy for this author, and warmly recommend this deeply learned work.
It should be admitted at the outset that this is not a book for everyone, but those people who can read this book and appreciate it for what it is should find it immensely enjoyable. It is a book from a Christian publisher, and a book that might at first glance appear to be an entry into the Calvnist/Arminian debate, but this is not what the book is about at all. Instead, the book is written from a scientific and often psychological perspective about free will and the argument about free will in a way that is very dry and technical but also fascinating for its wide-ranging thoughts and implications. These implications are supported with research and explained with a sound and technical analysis that is impressive even if it not necessarily readily accessible.
Included in this book are a few chapters that are likely to rile some major and entrenched interests dealing with the question of free will and its implications for responsibility. One of the chapters of the book examines the cult of science, including its effects on the pedophile priest scandal of the Roman Catholic Church and their mistaken reliance on the effectiveness of therapy in dealing with deviant priests. Then the next chapter examines the tragedy of charity when it enables people to be dependent on the government and fail to develop the capacity for living competent and responsible lives, including the politics of categorizing homosexuality and the denial of free will in the restraint or gratification of deviant sexual desires. These chapters are powerfully written, but not likely to win the author any friends among those entrenched interests.
It should be noted, in the interests of completeness, that this book takes a very large detour in its larger discussion of free will to take a whack at the hornet’s nest of the political correctness that is involved in homosexuality and pedophilia, and takes a lot of time to discuss a controversy that took place because of confusion over organizations with similar names and the use of scientific studies for immoral purposes by various groups in ways that show how the political bias of scientific organizations tends to lead to a great mistrust of even encouraging scientific results because of the context of political and moral corruption. It is only after all of this lengthy discussion about the politics and science of the argument over free will that the author turns belatedly to religious arguments about free will. Even here, though, the author discusses free will from the perspective of Shakespeare and Jung far more easily than that of theologians or the Bible itself.
At its heart, this is a book that wrestles honestly and openly with the implications of free will and some of the reasons why free will has been denied or downplayed throughout history and in our contemporary society. By making a strong stand for personal responsibility, he takes a stance that may be viewed unsympathetically, but does so with a great deal of integrity and with a clear eye towards the sort of opposition he faces in our current societal discourse. The fact that the author is able to handle so many texts, from cartoons to psychology books, suggests the author’s vast knowledge of the subject and his awareness of the fact that even in a heavily technical book that humor can help make the author’s points about a tragic or realistic optimism that does not wallow in learned helplessness. By the time the book finishes with a discussion of charity versus coerced giving, one understands that this author has thought long and hard about the political implications of the doctrine of free will, and does so with a degree of graciousness and compassion that is not always easy to recognize because of the passionate ways he makes his points. As this is a problem I share, I have more than a little empathy for this author, and warmly recommend this deeply learned work.
June 4, 2012
In “Afraid to Believe in Free Will” (ISBN 9781449701840, 2010), Psychologist Carl E. Begley explains why psychology interferes with our need to experience free will. He mentions that, since will can’t be measure “any aspects of human behavior” including free will, he was told not to worry about studying it. The author lists several philosophers and their opinion on free will — including Sigmund Freud
and B.F. Skinner
Note that the book is not a psychology text book. The author wants the reader to understand that he/she has free will and capacity to believe in God regardless of what any psychology, sociology and other studies of the human mind may tell us.
“And now, I think, the meaning of the evolution of civilization is no longer obscure to us. It must present the struggle between Eros and Death, between the instinct of life and the instinct of destruction, as it works itself out in the human species. This struggle is what all life essentially consists of, and the evolution of civilization may therefore be simply described as the struggle for life of the human species… And we may probably add more precisely, a struggle for life in the shape it was bound to assume after a certain event that still remains to be discovered… And it is the battle of the giants that our nurse-maids try to appease with their lullaby about heaven.”
– Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents, 1929
and B.F. Skinner
“There is little chance that they can reverse the behavior threatening the end of our species, which has been produced by our genetic endowment, our individual behavior and the technical and institutional practices of our culture… The argument that we have always solved our problems in the past and shall surely therefore solve this one is like reassuring a dying man by pointing out that he has always recovered from his illnesses. The world may be fatally ill.”
– B. F. Skinner, Kathleen Fisher’s article “World’s Prognosis Grim,” APA Monitor, October 1982, p. 25
Note that the book is not a psychology text book. The author wants the reader to understand that he/she has free will and capacity to believe in God regardless of what any psychology, sociology and other studies of the human mind may tell us.
November 17, 2011
Don't you wish that there was someone else to blame for all of your mistakes? Of course you do. So do I. In the world of my self-deception I am to be praised for all the good in my life, able to take credit for my success, but all of my failures and bad decisions are the result of some form of determinism; I was raised that way, the social structures I inhabit left me no choice, or the devil made me do it. In this book Begley argues, from the point of view of psychology, that we are indeed afraid of free will and the responsibility it thrusts upon us. Begley knows that we cannot prove, or disprove, the existence of free will. However, he take son some of the modern trends in science and psychology towards determinism and points out their flaws. He then argues that free will is central to what it is to be human and that we ought to, if we can, choose to believe in free will.
I had no idea what to expect coming into this book. An examination of free will not taken from a theological perspective? You mean this isn't a book about Calvinism and Arminianism? No, indeed it is not. But then what is there to say? Well, a lot, as it turns out. And a very interesting 'lot' at that. Begley's examinations of the sources of resistance to free will, of various sorts, was highly interesting. His insights into the world of psychology and the skew towards determinism in the sciences were very much worth reading. I am still digesting all the details of this book, but I think it is more than worth reading and thinking about.
Conclusion: 4 out of 5 stars. Conditionally Recommended. If this topic, or constellation of topics, interests you in the slightest then you should read this book.
Book provided by Thomas Nelson for review.
I had no idea what to expect coming into this book. An examination of free will not taken from a theological perspective? You mean this isn't a book about Calvinism and Arminianism? No, indeed it is not. But then what is there to say? Well, a lot, as it turns out. And a very interesting 'lot' at that. Begley's examinations of the sources of resistance to free will, of various sorts, was highly interesting. His insights into the world of psychology and the skew towards determinism in the sciences were very much worth reading. I am still digesting all the details of this book, but I think it is more than worth reading and thinking about.
Conclusion: 4 out of 5 stars. Conditionally Recommended. If this topic, or constellation of topics, interests you in the slightest then you should read this book.
Book provided by Thomas Nelson for review.
April 23, 2012
I was not impressed with this book. It had a lot of presuppositions, assumptions and didn't make a very strong case.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews