Free Will: A Contemporary Introduction

by Michael S. McKenna, Derk Pereboom

As an advanced introduction to the challenging topic of free will, this book is designed for upper-level undergraduates interested in a comprehensive first-stop into the field's issues and debates. It is written by two of the leading participants in those debates--a compatibilist on the issue of free will and determinism (Michael McKenna) and an incompatibilist (Derk Pereboom). These two authors achieve an admirable objectivity and clarity while still illuminating the field's complexity and key advances. Each chapter is structured to work as one week's primary reading in a course on free will, while more advanced courses can dip into the annotated further readings, suggested at the end of each chapter. A comprehensive bibliography as well as detailed subject and author indexes are included at the back of the book.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent birds-eye overview on the topic of free will in contemporary philosophy that delivers what it promises: a great and easy to follow introduction to the classical problems, and a much more advanced and challenging deep-dive into the contemporary literature and state of the field. A good book to keep in the library as a reference, and a great first step for anyone interested in studying the topic at an academic level.

[Albin Torstensson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great introduction and historical review of an extremely complicated debate. It guides you trough the different positions as well as their status and challenges in recent philosophical research I will probably go back and reread certain chapters again in the future.

The language is clear even though the terminology is complex for someone entering the field and I suggest taking notes and working with the different terms in other contexts to get familiar to them, as well as returning to the earlier chapters repeatedly.

With all of this said, it is hardly entertaining reading, heh...

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is by far the most thorough and rigorous introduction to the Free Will literature in analytic philosophy. For those that are looking for a technical introduction to the topic, this will be the best book on the market.

[Sam Mattingly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent overview of the historical and contemporary free will debate. I found this book more helpful than just reading all of the primary sources, as this book tells you not just those views but how they have been received by others. It is pretty wild how technical the issues can get at times, but this book can help you through it.

[Salem Zarir · Rating 4 out of 5]

العنوان دال على المضمون: الكتاب فعلا مقدمة لمفهوم الإرادة الحرة، وهو توطئة ناجعة كذلك. يفتتح الكتاب صفحاته باستعراض التوجهات التوافقية واللاتوافقية الكلاسيكية، ويقوم بتقديم مجموعة من المفاهيم التي على القارئ أن يتسلح بها خلال قراءته لباقي فصول الكتاب، ومن ثم ينتقل الكتاب ليعالج المفاهيم الأكثر تعمقا لكلا التوجهين بشكل مترابط ومتماسك بحيث يزداد فهم القارئ لمضامين الكتاب ومفاهيمه بشكل تدريجي.
كما أن الكتاب أشار وفي أكثر من موضع إلى أن الصفحات والأقسام القادمة تعالج مواضيع أكثر دقة وقد لا يهتم بها القارئ العادي أو قد لا يفهمها، وهذا الأمر يساهم في التقليل من إحساس القارئ بعجزه عن الإحاطة بكافة التفاصيل التي يعالجها الكتاب. علماً بأن الكتاب -وبسبب المواضيع التي يطرحها- يضرب الكثير من الأمثلة لتوضيح المواقف التي يتبناها المفكرين والفلاسفة المختلفين اللذين عالجوا مسألة الإرادة الحرة.
بالمحصلة، لقد أضاف الكتاب لي شخصياً مجموعة واسعة من المفاهيم التي كانت غائبة عني قبل قراءته، وتجدر بي الإشارة ههنا إلى أن الأجوبة التي يطرحها الكتاب مثيرة لذلك الذي يبحث فعلاً عنها، أي أن القارئ يفترض به الاهتمام المبدئي بمضامين الكتاب حتى يجده ذا قيمة. لكن الكتاب يقدم ما يعد به؛ وهو مقدمة حديثة لمفاهيم الإرادة الحرة والحتمية والمسؤولية الأخلاقية، وعلى القارئ أن لا ينزعج من عدم فهمه لكافة مفاهيم الكتاب فهو لا يحتاج لذلك -على افتراض أنه قارئ غير متخصص.

[Rasamandala Das · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been a comprehensive book on the subject, but the English, in places, is so cumbersome as to be unreadable. It is abstract, that's true, yet so badly written that I have been compelled (or have chosen?) to read some sentences two or three times, and yet still fail to grasp the meaning. The punctuation seems partly the problem. Most disconcerting is that so-called philosophers write - and, by extension, think - so clumsily.

Here are examples, both from page 125:

"So consider this: Imagine that whether any person is free with respect to and morally responsible for what she has done is a fact that is entirely independent of our practice of holding morally responsible."

"Our moral responsibility practices and our emotions, whatever they are, could then be entirely off track and disengaged from the truth of the matter, or they could in some way be accurately capturing roughly the independent truth that God would have precisely correct."

Is ’practices” a verb or a noun?
“accurately capturing roughly…”? The mind boggles.

Please send translations on a postcard...

[Cameron Burkholder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute banger