- The Problem of Free Will
A Contemporary Introduction
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- Author(s):
Mathew Iredale
- ISBN: 1844655040
- ISBN-13: 9781844655045
- Publication Date: 29 Mar 2012
- Pages: 192 (216 x 138mm)
- Format: Paperback
- Published Price: £14.99
- Discount Price: £11.99
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DESCRIPTION:
Whether human choices and actions are causally determined or are in a way free is one of the trickiest questions in philosophy. Undaunted, Mathew Iredale presents a clear, comprehensive and concise introduction to the topic. What sets this book apart is its focus on the positions currently jostling for acceptance rather than on the more familiar historical debates.
The book explores what it is about the free will problem that makes it so intractable and argues that the only acceptable solution must be one consistent with what science tells us about the world. It is here, maintains Iredale, that many works on free will, introductory or otherwise, fall down, by focusing only on how free will relates to determinism. He shows that there are clear areas of scientific research which are directly and significantly relevant to free will in a way that does not involve determinism. Although these areas of scientific research may not allow us to solve the problem, they do enable us to separate the more plausible ideas concerning free will from the less plausible.
The Problem of Free Will: A Contemporary Introduction will be welcomed by beginning students and the general reader looking for a fresh and lively appraisal of the issues informed by the most recent work of philosophers and scientists.
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AUTHOR BIO:
Mathew Iredale has a PhD in philosophy from University College London. He writes a regular column for The Philosophers' Magazine on how the latest research in science can help to solve philosophical problems.
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CONTENTS:
1. The Gordian Knot
2. What is Free Will?
3. Obscure and Panicky Metaphysics
4. A Glaring Absurdity
5. Weeds in the Garden of Forking Paths
6. A Wretched Subterfuge
7. The Quagmire of Evasion
8. Of Puppies and Polyps
9. Two Overridden and Wearied Nags
10. Conclusion
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- Also available in Hardback (1844655032), priced £45.00
Click here to buy the hardback edition
