Making Sense Of Freedom And Responsibility

Author : Dana Kay Nelkin
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191619426
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Making Sense of Freedom and Responsibility written by Dana Kay Nelkin and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2011-08-04 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dana Kay Nelkin presents a simple and natural account of freedom and moral responsibility which responds to the great variety of challenges to the idea that we are free and responsible, before ultimately reaffirming our conception of ourselves as agents. Making Sense of Freedom and Responsibility begins with a defense of the rational abilities view, according to which one is responsible for an action if and only if one acts with the ability to recognize and act for good reasons. The view is compatibilist?that is, on the view defended, responsibility is compatible with determinism?and one of its striking features is a certain asymmetry: it requires the ability to do otherwise for responsibility when actions are blameworthy, but not when they are praiseworthy. In defending and elaborating the view, Nelkin questions long-held assumptions such as those concerning the relation between fairness and blame and the nature of so-called reactive attitudes such as resentment and forgiveness. Her argument not only fits with a metaphysical picture of causation?agent-causation?often assumed to be available only to incompatibilist accounts, but receives positive support from the intuitively appealing Ought Implies Can Principle, and establishes a new interpretation of freedom and moral responsibility that dovetails with a compelling account of our inescapable commitments as rational agents.

Author : Sam Harris
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1451683405
Total Pages : 96 pages
Book Rating : 4.00/5 ( download)

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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.

Author : Dana Kay Nelkin
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199608563
Total Pages : 207 pages
Book Rating : 4.60/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Making Sense of Freedom and Responsibility written by Dana Kay Nelkin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-04 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dana Kay Nelkin presents a new account of freedom and moral responsibility, based on the view that one is responsible for an action if and only if one acts with the ability to recognize and act for good reasons. She responds to various challenges to the idea that we are free and responsible, and reaffirms our notion of ourselves as agents.

Author : Curran F. Douglass
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1611478383
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Rationality, Control, and Freedom written by Curran F. Douglass and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-06-03 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The subject of this book is the controversy—one of the oldest in philosophy—about whether it is possible to have freedom in the face of universal causal determinism. Of course, it is crucial to consider what such freedom might mean—in particular, there is an important distinction between libertarian “free will” and the more naturalistic view of freedom taken by compatibilists. This book provides background for laypersons through a historical survey of earlier views and some discussion and criticism of various contemporary views. In particular, it states and discusses the Consequence Argument, the most important argument challenging human freedom in recent literature. The main feature of the book is the argument for a solution: one that is within the compatibilist tradition, is naturalistic and in accord with findings of science and principles of engineering control theory. Some particular features of the offered solution include an argument for a close tie between freedom and control—where what is meant is the voluntary motion control of our bodies, and this “control” is understood naturalistically, by which the author means in accordance with concepts of engineering control theory and modern science. Such concepts are used to explain and demarcate the concept of “control” being used. Then it develops a working conception of what rationality is (since what is crucial is freedom in choice, and rationality is crucial to that), by reviewing texts on the subject by three expert authors (namely, Nathanson, Nozick, and Searle). It is argued that rationality is a species of biological learning control that involves deliberation; and that our freedom in choice is greatest when our choices are most rational.

Author : Gregg D. Caruso
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 073917732X
Total Pages : 335 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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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.

Author : Thomas Pink
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192853589
Total Pages : 145 pages
Book Rating : 4.85/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Free Will: A Very Short Introduction written by Thomas Pink and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-06-24 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every day we seem to make and act upon all kinds of free choices - but are these choices really free? Or are we compelled to act the way we do by factors beyond our control? This book looks at free will.

Author : Ursula Coope
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192558285
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Freedom and Responsibility in Neoplatonist Thought written by Ursula Coope and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-16 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Neoplatonists have a perfectionist view of freedom: an entity is free to the extent that it succeeds in making itself good. Free entities are wholly in control of themselves—they are self-determining, self-constituting, and self-knowing. Neoplatonist philosophers argue that such freedom is only possible for non-bodily things. The human soul is free insofar as it rises above bodily things and engages in intellection, but when it turns its desires to bodily things, it is drawn under the sway of fate and becomes enslaved. Ursula Coope discusses this notion of freedom and its relation to questions about responsibility. She explains the important role of notions of self-reflexivity in Neoplatonist accounts of both freedom and responsibility. In Part I, Coope sets out the puzzles Neoplatonist philosophers face about freedom and responsibility and explains how these puzzles arise from earlier discussions. Part II explores the metaphysical underpinnings of the Neoplatonist notion of freedom (concentrating especially on the views of Plotinus and Proclus). In what sense, if any, is the ultimate first principle of everything (the One) free? If everything else is under this ultimate first principle, how can anything other than the One be free? What is the connection between freedom and nonbodiliness? Finally, Coope considers in Part III questions about responsibility, arising from this perfectionist view of freedom. Why are human beings responsible for their behaviour, in a way that other animals are not? If we are enslaved when we act viciously, how can we be to blame for our vicious actions and choices?

Author : Bernard Williams
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521478687
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.85/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Making Sense of Humanity written by Bernard Williams and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1995-06-30 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Collection of philosophical papers

Author : Patty McCord
Publisher : Tom Rath
ISBN 13 : 1939714117
Total Pages : 109 pages
Book Rating : 4.14/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Powerful written by Patty McCord and published by Tom Rath. This book was released on 2018-01-09 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named by The Washington Post as one of the 11 Leadership Books to Read in 2018 When it comes to recruiting, motivating, and creating great teams, Patty McCord says most companies have it all wrong. McCord helped create the unique and high-performing culture at Netflix, where she was chief talent officer. In her new book, Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility, she shares what she learned there and elsewhere in Silicon Valley. McCord advocates practicing radical honesty in the workplace, saying good-bye to employees who don’t fit the company’s emerging needs, and motivating with challenging work, not promises, perks, and bonus plans. McCord argues that the old standbys of corporate HR—annual performance reviews, retention plans, employee empowerment and engagement programs—often end up being a colossal waste of time and resources. Her road-tested advice, offered with humor and irreverence, provides readers a different path for creating a culture of high performance and profitability. Powerful will change how you think about work and the way a business should be run.

Author : James Carse
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1451657293
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.96/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Finite and Infinite Games written by James Carse and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-10-11 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “There are at least two kinds of games,” states James Carse as he begins this extraordinary book. “One could be called finite; the other infinite.” Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life; they are played in order to be won, which is when they end. But infinite games are more mysterious. Their object is not winning, but ensuring the continuation of play. The rules may change, the boundaries may change, even the participants may change—as long as the game is never allowed to come to an end. What are infinite games? How do they affect the ways we play our finite games? What are we doing when we play—finitely or infinitely? And how can infinite games affect the ways in which we live our lives? Carse explores these questions with stunning elegance, teasing out of his distinctions a universe of observation and insight, noting where and why and how we play, finitely and infinitely. He surveys our world—from the finite games of the playing field and playing board to the infinite games found in culture and religion—leaving all we think we know illuminated and transformed. Along the way, Carse finds new ways of understanding everything from how an actress portrays a role, to how we engage in sex, from the nature of evil, to the nature of science. Finite games, he shows, may offer wealth and status, power and glory. But infinite games offer something far more subtle and far grander. Carse has written a book rich in insight and aphorism. Already an international literary event, Finite and Infinite Games is certain to be argued about and celebrated for years to come. Reading it is the first step in learning to play the infinite game.