The Limits of Free Will presents influential articles by Paul Russell
concerning free will and moral responsibility. The problems arising in
this field of philosophy, which are deeply rooted in the history of
the subject, are also intimately related to a wide range of other
fields, such as law and criminology, moral psychology, theology, and,
more recently, neuroscience. These articles were written and published
over a period of three decades, although most have appeared in the
past decade. Among the topics covered: the challenge of skepticism;
moral sentiment and moral capacity; necessity and the metaphysics of
causation; practical reason; free will and art; fatalism and the
limits of agency; moral luck, and our metaphysical attitudes of
optimism and pessimism. Some essays are primarily critical in
character, presenting critiques and commentary on major works or
contributions in the contemporary scene. Others are mainly
constructive, aiming to develop and articulate a distinctive account
of compatibilism. The general theory advanced by Russell, which he
describes as a form of "critical compatibilism", rejects any form of
unqualified or radical skepticism; but it also insists that a
plausible compatibilism has significant and substantive implications
about the limits of agency and argues that this licenses a
metaphysical attitude of (modest) pessimism on this topic. While each
essay is self-standing, there is nevertheless a core set of themes and
issues that unite and link them together. The collection is arranged
and organized in a format that enables the reader to appreciate and
recognize these links and core themes.
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Product details
ISBN
9780190627621
Published
2020
Publisher
Oxford University Press Academic US
Language
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Author