A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will (Fundamentals of Philosophy Series)

A Contemporary Introduction To Free Will Provides An Extensive And Overview Of All The Views On This Central Problem Of Philosophy. Opening With A Concise Introduction To The History Of The Problem Of Freewill--and Its Place In The History Of Philosophy--the Book Then Turns To Contemporary Debates And Theories About Free Will, Determinism, And Related Subjects Like Moral Responsibility, Coercion, Compulsion, Autonomy, Agency, Rationality, Freedom, And More. Classical Compatibilist And New Compatibilist Theories Of Free Will Are Considered Along With The Latest Incompatibilist Or Libertarian Theories And The Most Recent Skeptical Challenges To Free Will. Separate Chapters Are Devoted To The Relation Of Free Will To Moral Responsibility And Ethics; To Modern Science; And To Religious Questions About Predestination, Divine Foreknowledge, And Human Freedom. Numerous Down-to-earth Examples And Challenging Thought Experiments Enliven The Text. The Free Will Problem -- Compatibilism -- Incompatibilism -- Libertarianism, Indeterminism And Chance -- Minds, Selves And Agent Causes -- Actions, Reasons And Causes -- Is Free Will Possible? : Hard Determinists And Other Skeptics -- Moral Responsibility And Alternative Possibilities -- Higher-order Desires, Real Selves And New Compatibilists -- Reactive Attitude Theories -- Ultimate Responsibility -- Free Will And Modern Science -- Predestination, Divine Foreknowledge And Free Will -- Conclusion: Five Freedoms. Robert Kane. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 175-183) And Index.