Moral Psychology, Volume 4: Free Will and Moral Responsibility
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Abstract
This collection of original essays, comments, and replies brings together philosophers and scientists to discuss the relevance of recent neuroscience and psychology to traditional debates about free will and moral responsibility. These prominent authors clearly show that free will and moral responsibility raise many issues that need to be distinguished, and none of them can be addressed adequately without both philosophy and science. Various chapters concern whether free will requires rationality, whether responsibility is fundamentally social, whether the origins of actions in the brain depen ... More
This collection of original essays, comments, and replies brings together philosophers and scientists to discuss the relevance of recent neuroscience and psychology to traditional debates about free will and moral responsibility. These prominent authors clearly show that free will and moral responsibility raise many issues that need to be distinguished, and none of them can be addressed adequately without both philosophy and science. Various chapters concern whether free will requires rationality, whether responsibility is fundamentally social, whether the origins of actions in the brain depend on stochastic processes, whether mental states can cause bodily movements, whether free will requires dualism, whether control is enough by itself for responsibility, whether addicts and monkeys have free will, and how social groups shape people's views on free will and moral responsibility. These lively exchanges among well-known experts are a model of fruitful interdisciplinary exchange. This collection will be useful in undergraduate and graduate classes and will interest anyone who is intellectually curious.
Keywords:
Free Will,
Responsibility,
Determinism,
Compatibilism,
Neuroscience,
Philosophy
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780262026680 |
| Published to MIT Press Scholarship Online: September 2014 |
DOI:10.7551/mitpress/9780262026680.001.0001 |
