Biological Determinism, Free Will and Moral Responsibility

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Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319303910
Total Pages : 84 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (193 download)

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Book Synopsis Biological Determinism, Free Will and Moral Responsibility by : Chris Willmott

Download or read book Biological Determinism, Free Will and Moral Responsibility written by Chris Willmott and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-03-08 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the way in which new discoveries about genetic and neuroscience are influencing our understanding of human behaviour. As scientists unravel more about the ways in which genes and the environment work together to shape the development of our brains, their studies have importance beyond the narrow confines of the laboratory. This emerging knowledge has implications for our notions of morality and criminal responsibility. The extent to which “biological determinism” can be used as an explanation for our behaviour is of interest to philosophers reflecting on the free will versus determinism debate. It also has repercussions for the criminal justice system; in courtrooms around the world, defence lawyers are beginning to appeal to genetic and brain imaging data as grounds for finding their clients not guilty. Can a defendant’s genes or the structure of his brain be used as an excuse for his behaviour? Is criminality “hardwired”? Is it legitimate to claim “I couldn’t help it, my genes made me do it”? This book appeals to anyone interested in the link between behaviour and genetics, the science and philosophy of moral responsibility and/or criminal law.​

Restorative Free Will

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Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 1498522394
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (985 download)

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Book Synopsis Restorative Free Will by : Bruce N. Waller

Download or read book Restorative Free Will written by Bruce N. Waller and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2015-10-22 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Restorative Free Will argues for an account of free will that takes seriously the evolutionary development of the key elements of free will. It emphasizes a biological understanding of free will that rejects the belief that free will belongs exclusively to humans and seeks to understand free will by examining it writ large in the adaptive behavior of many species. Drawing on resources from primatology, biology, psychology, and anthropology, Restorative Free Will examines the major compatibilist and libertarian accounts of free will, acknowledges their important insights while arguing that each view mistakenly treats an essential element of animal free will as if it were the full account of free will, and demonstrates how a broader biological approach to free will integrates those insights into a richer naturalistic free will account.

Determinism, Freedom, and Moral Responsibility

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192636561
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (926 download)

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Book Synopsis Determinism, Freedom, and Moral Responsibility by : Susanne Bobzien

Download or read book Determinism, Freedom, and Moral Responsibility written by Susanne Bobzien and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-05-20 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Determinism, Freedom, and Moral Responsibility brings together nine essays on determinism, freedom and moral responsibility in antiquity by Susanne Bobzien. The essays present the main ancient theories of determinism, freedom, and moral responsibility ranging from Aristotle via Epicureans and Stoics to Alexander of Aphrodisias in the third century CE. The author discusses questions about rational and autonomous human agency and their compatibility with preceding causes, external or internal; with external impediments; with divine predetermination and theological questions; with physical theories like atomism and continuum theory, and with the sciences more generally; with elements that determine character development from childhood, such as nature and nurture; with epistemic features such as ignorance of circumstances; with necessity and modal theories generally; with folk theories of fatalism; and also with questions of how human autonomous agency is related to moral development, virtue and wisdom, blame and praise. Historically unified, philosophically profound, and methodologically rigorous, Bobzien's discussions show that in classical and Hellenistic philosophy these topics were all debated without reference to freedom to do otherwise or to free will, and that the latter two notions were fully developed only later.

Exploring the Illusion of Free Will and Moral Responsibility

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Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 073917732X
Total Pages : 335 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (391 download)

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Book Synopsis Exploring the Illusion of Free Will and Moral Responsibility by : Gregg D. Caruso

Download or read book Exploring the Illusion of Free Will and Moral Responsibility written by Gregg D. Caruso and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2013-07-05 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring the Illusion of Free Will and Moral Responsibility investigates the philosophical and scientific arguments for free will skepticism and their implications. Skepticism about free will and moral responsibility has been on the rise in recent years. In fact, a significant number of philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists now either doubt or outright deny the existence of free will and/or moral responsibility—and the list of prominent skeptics appears to grow by the day. Given the profound importance that the concepts of free will and moral responsibility hold in our lives—in understanding ourselves, society, and the law—it is important that we explore what is behind this new wave of skepticism. It is also important that we explore the potential consequences of skepticism for ourselves and society. Edited by Gregg D. Caruso, this collection of new essays brings together an internationally recognized line-up of contributors, most of whom hold skeptical positions of some sort, to display and explore the leading arguments for free will skepticism and to debate their implications.

Free Will and Moral Responsibility

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Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1443853232
Total Pages : 280 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (438 download)

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Book Synopsis Free Will and Moral Responsibility by : Justin Caouette

Download or read book Free Will and Moral Responsibility written by Justin Caouette and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2013-10-03 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Determinism is, roughly, the thesis that facts about the past and the laws of nature entail all truths. A venerable, age-old dilemma concerning responsibility distils to this: if either determinism is true or it is not true, we lack “responsibility-grounding” control. Either determinism is true or it is not true. So, we lack responsibility-grounding control. Deprived of such control, no one is ever morally responsible for anything. A number of the freshly-minted essays in this collection address aspects of this dilemma. Responding to the horn that determinism undermines the freedom that responsibility (or moral obligation) requires, the freedom to do otherwise, some papers in this collection debate the merits of Frankfurt-style examples that purport to show that one can be responsible despite lacking alternatives. Responding to the horn that indeterminism implies luck or randomness, other papers discuss the strengths or shortcomings of libertarian free will or control. Also included in this collection are essays on the freedom requirements of moral obligation, forgiveness and free will, a “desert-free” conception of free will, and vicarious legal and moral responsibility. The authors of the essays in this volume are philosophers who have made significant contributions to debates in free will, moral responsibility, moral obligation, the reactive attitudes, philosophy of action, and philosophical psychology, and include John Martin Fischer, Robert Kane, Michael McKenna, Alfred Mele, and Derk Pereboom.

Freedom, Determinism, and Responsibility

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Publisher : Pearson
ISBN 13 : 9780130485175
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (851 download)

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Book Synopsis Freedom, Determinism, and Responsibility by : Neil Campbell

Download or read book Freedom, Determinism, and Responsibility written by Neil Campbell and published by Pearson. This book was released on 2002-11 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection introduces the central views and issues involved in the philosophical problem of free will. While the selections represent some of the most important works in the field, they are also accessible enough for readers with very little background in philosophy. KEY TOPICS: Includes classical and contemporary readings to give readers a feel both for the history of the problem and how it is confronted by modern philosophers. Includes section-opening introductions that provide more detailed explanations of subsequent readings than most philosophy books.Features a broad historical perspective that is not restricted to the philosophical views of a particular century. Presents diverse views on issues discussed. MARKET: A readable, comprehensive reference for anyone interested in learning about philosophy.

Free Will

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1451683405
Total Pages : 96 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (516 download)

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Book Synopsis Free Will by : Sam Harris

Download or read book Free Will written by Sam Harris and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of The End of Faith, a thought-provoking, "brilliant and witty" (Oliver Sacks) look at the notion of free will—and the implications that it is an illusion. A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion. In this enlightening book, Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life.

Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?

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Publisher : Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN 13 : 0199215391
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (992 download)

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Book Synopsis Did My Neurons Make Me Do It? by : Nancey Murphy

Download or read book Did My Neurons Make Me Do It? written by Nancey Murphy and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2007-06-14 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors here provide a novel contribution to the debate on free will by offering cutting-edge research at the intersection of philosophy and the cognitive sciences. The volume reframes long-standing philosophical problems in light of recent developments in neuroscience and related fields.

Free Will and Consciousness

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Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 0739171364
Total Pages : 313 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (391 download)

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Book Synopsis Free Will and Consciousness by : Gregg D. Caruso

Download or read book Free Will and Consciousness written by Gregg D. Caruso and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2012 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent decades, with advances in the behavioral, cognitive, and neurosciences, the idea that patterns of human behavior may ultimately be due to factors beyond our conscious control has increasingly gained traction and renewed interest in the age-old problem of free will. In this book, Gregg D. Caruso examines both the traditional philosophical problems long associated with the question of free will, such as the relationship between determinism and free will, as well as recent experimental and theoretical work directly related to consciousness and human agency. He argues that our best scientific theories indeed have the consequence that factors beyond our control produce all of the actions we perform and that because of this we do not possess the kind of free will required for genuine or ultimate responsibility. It is further argued that the strong and pervasive belief in free will, which the author considers an illusion, can be accounted for through a careful analysis of our phenomenology and a proper theoretical understanding of consciousness. Indeed, the primary goal of this book is to argue that our subjective feeling of freedom, as reflected in the first-person phenomenology of agentive experience, is an illusion created by certain aspects of our consciousness.

Just Deserts

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Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1509545778
Total Pages : 145 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis Just Deserts by : Daniel C. Dennett

Download or read book Just Deserts written by Daniel C. Dennett and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-01-14 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concept of free will is profoundly important to our self-understanding, our interpersonal relationships, and our moral and legal practices. If it turns out that no one is ever free and morally responsible, what would that mean for society, morality, meaning, and the law? Just Deserts brings together two philosophers – Daniel C. Dennett and Gregg D. Caruso – to debate their respective views on free will, moral responsibility, and legal punishment. In three extended conversations, Dennett and Caruso present their arguments for and against the existence of free will and debate their implications. Dennett argues that the kind of free will required for moral responsibility is compatible with determinism – for him, self-control is key; we are not responsible for becoming responsible, but are responsible for staying responsible, for keeping would-be puppeteers at bay. Caruso takes the opposite view, arguing that who we are and what we do is ultimately the result of factors beyond our control, and because of this we are never morally responsible for our actions in the sense that would make us truly deserving of blame and praise, punishment and reward. Just Deserts introduces the concepts central to the debate about free will and moral responsibility by way of an entertaining, rigorous, and sometimes heated philosophical dialogue between two leading thinkers.

Moral Psychology, Volume 4

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262321491
Total Pages : 493 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

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Book Synopsis Moral Psychology, Volume 4 by : Walter Sinnott-Armstrong

Download or read book Moral Psychology, Volume 4 written by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2014-02-21 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leading philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists address issues of moral responsibility and free will, drawing on new findings from empirical science. Traditional philosophers approached the issues of free will and moral responsibility through conceptual analysis that seldom incorporated findings from empirical science. In recent decades, however, striking developments in psychology and neuroscience have captured the attention of many moral philosophers. This volume of Moral Psychology offers essays, commentaries, and replies by leading philosophers and scientists who explain and use empirical findings from psychology and neuroscience to illuminate old and new problems regarding free will and moral responsibility. The contributors—who include such prominent scholars as Patricia Churchland, Daniel Dennett, and Michael Gazzaniga—consider issues raised by determinism, compatibilism, and libertarianism; epiphenomenalism, bypassing, and naturalism; naturalism; and rationality and situationism. These writings show that although science does not settle the issues of free will and moral responsibility, it has enlivened the field by asking novel, profound, and important questions. Contributors Roy F. Baumeister, Tim Bayne, Gunnar Björnsson, C. Daryl Cameron, Hanah A. Chapman, William A. Cunningham, Patricia S. Churchland, Christopher G. Coutlee, Daniel C. Dennett, Ellen E. Furlong, Michael S. Gazzaniga, Patrick Haggard, Brian Hare, Lasana T. Harris, John-Dylan Haynes, Richard Holton, Scott A. Huettel, Robert Kane, Victoria K. Lee, Neil Levy, Alfred R. Mele, Christian Miller, Erman Misirlisoy, P. Read Montague, Thomas Nadelhoffer, Eddy Nahmias, William T. Newsome, B. Keith Payne, Derk Pereboom, Adina L. Roskies, Laurie R. Santos, Timothy Schroeder, Michael N. Shadlen, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Chandra Sripada, Christopher L. Suhler, Manuel Vargas, Gideon Yaffe

Bound

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Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0199291845
Total Pages : 199 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (992 download)

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Book Synopsis Bound by : Shaun Nichols

Download or read book Bound written by Shaun Nichols and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shaun Nichols offers a naturalistic, psychological account of the origins of the problem of free will. He argues that our belief in indeterminist choice is grounded in faulty inference and therefore unjustified, goes on to suggest that there is no single answer to whether free will exists, and promotes a pragmatic approach to prescriptive issues.

Why Free Will Is Real

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Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674239814
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (742 download)

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Book Synopsis Why Free Will Is Real by : Christian List

Download or read book Why Free Will Is Real written by Christian List and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-06 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A crystal-clear, scientifically rigorous argument for the existence of free will, challenging what many scientists and scientifically minded philosophers believe. Philosophers have argued about the nature and the very existence of free will for centuries. Today, many scientists and scientifically minded commentators are skeptical that it exists, especially when it is understood to require the ability to choose between alternative possibilities. If the laws of physics govern everything that happens, they argue, then how can our choices be free? Believers in free will must be misled by habit, sentiment, or religious doctrine. Why Free Will Is Real defies scientific orthodoxy and presents a bold new defense of free will in the same naturalistic terms that are usually deployed against it. Unlike those who defend free will by giving up the idea that it requires alternative possibilities to choose from, Christian List retains this idea as central, resisting the tendency to defend free will by watering it down. He concedes that free will and its prerequisites—intentional agency, alternative possibilities, and causal control over our actions—cannot be found among the fundamental physical features of the natural world. But, he argues, that’s not where we should be looking. Free will is a “higher-level” phenomenon found at the level of psychology. It is like other phenomena that emerge from physical processes but are autonomous from them and not best understood in fundamental physical terms—like an ecosystem or the economy. When we discover it in its proper context, acknowledging that free will is real is not just scientifically respectable; it is indispensable for explaining our world.

Determinism, Free Will, and Moral Responsibility

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Author :
Publisher : Prentice Hall
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Determinism, Free Will, and Moral Responsibility by : Gerald Dworkin

Download or read book Determinism, Free Will, and Moral Responsibility written by Gerald Dworkin and published by Prentice Hall. This book was released on 1970 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of liberty and necessity, by D. Hume.--The doctrine of necessity examined, by C.S. Peirce.--Determinism in history, by E. Nagel.--Some arguments for free will, by T. Reid.--Has the self free will? by C.A. Campbell.--Dialogue on free will, by L. de Valla.--Can the will be caused? by C. Ginet.--Free will, by G.E. Moore.--A modal muddle, by S.N. Thomas.--Determinism, indeterminism, and libertarianism, by C.D. Broad.--An empirical disproof of determinism? by K. Lehrer.--Free will, praise and blame, by J.J.C. Smart.--Bibliographical essay.

Moral Responsibility

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9400718780
Total Pages : 252 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Moral Responsibility by : Nicole A. Vincent

Download or read book Moral Responsibility written by Nicole A. Vincent and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-08-17 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is well over a decade since John Fischer and Mark Ravizza – and before them, Jay Wallace and Daniel Dennett – defended responsibility from the threat of determinism. But defending responsibility from determinism is a potentially endless and largely negative enterprise; it can go on for as long as dissenting voices remain, and although such work strengthens the theoretical foundations of these theories, it won’t necessarily build anything on top of those foundations, nor will it move these theories into new territory or explain how to apply them to practical contexts. To this end, the papers in this volume address these more positive challenges by exploring how compatibilist responsibility theory can be extended and/or applied in a range of practical contexts. For instance, how is the narrow philosophical concept of responsibility that was defended from the threat of determinism related to the plural notions of responsibility present in everyday discourse, and how might this more fine-grained understanding of responsibility open up new vistas and challenges for compatibilist theory? What light might compatibilism shed, and what light might be shed upon it, by political debates about access to public welfare in the context of responsibility for one’s own health, and by legal debates about the impact of self-intoxication on responsibility. Does compatibilist theory, which was originally designed to cater for analysis of individual actions, scale to scenarios that involve group action and collective responsibility — e.g. for harms due to human-induced climate change? This book’s chapters deal with a range of theoretical problems discussed in classic compatibilist literature — e.g. the relationship between responsibility and capacity, the role of historical tracing in discounting the exculpatory value of incapacities, and the justifiability of retributive punishment. But instead of motivating their discussions by focusing on the alleged threat that determinism poses to responsibility, these chapters’ authors have animated their discussions by tackling important practical problems which crop up in contemporary debates about responsibility.

Living Without Free Will

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 0521029961
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (21 download)

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Book Synopsis Living Without Free Will by : Derk Pereboom

Download or read book Living Without Free Will written by Derk Pereboom and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-11-02 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that morality, meaning and value remain intact even if we are not morally responsible for our actions.

Free Will and Consciousness

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780199741359
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (413 download)

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Book Synopsis Free Will and Consciousness by : Roy Baumeister

Download or read book Free Will and Consciousness written by Roy Baumeister and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-07-09 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is aimed at readers who wish to move beyond debates about the existence of free will and the efficacy of consciousness and closer to appreciating how free will and consciousness might operate. It draws from philosophy and psychology, the two fields that have grappled most fundamentally with these issues. In this wide-ranging volume, the contributors explore such issues as how free will is connected to rational choice, planning, and self-control; roles for consciousness in decision making; the nature and power of conscious deciding; connections among free will, consciousness, and quantum mechanics; why free will and consciousness might have evolved; how consciousness develops in individuals; the experience of free will; effects on behavior of the belief that free will is an illusion; and connections between free will and moral responsibility in lay thinking. Collectively, these state-of-the-art chapters by accomplished psychologists and philosophers provide a glimpse into the future of research on free will and consciousness.