Listen to Books and Ideas #12 Now
This episode is my response to the The Myth of Free Will (2007), which was sent to me by the book’s editor Cris Evatt. I felt the topic was very relevant to my recent discussions on the Brain Science Podcast, where we have been exploring the evidence that a surprising amount of decision-making occurs beyond our conscious control.
I have tried to include some interesting references and links below, but I hope you will share more links (especially good blogs) at the new Brain Science Podcast Forum, which is located at http://brainscienceforum.com. I have set aside a section under “Off-Topic Discussions” for discussions about Books and Ideas.
The subject of free will is quite controversial. This episode is intended to stimulate thought and discussion, rather than to convince you that I have the answers.
Show Notes
The difference between political and psychological free will
Can a non-physical soul or spirit be controlling our brain’s decisions?
Naturalism (What is Naturalism? by Thomas W. Clark founder of The Center For Naturalism)
What about choice and responsibility?
What does neuroscience have to say about free will?
Partial List of Writers Whose Work I discuss
- John A Bargh of Yale University
- William B Provine of Cornell University
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
- Steven Pinker of Harvard
- Francis Crick and The Astonishing Hypothesis
- Clay Shirky of NYU
- Tamler Sommers of the University of Minnesota, Morris
- Susan Blackmore
References and Further Reading
Why Choose This Book?: How We Make Decisions (2006) by Read Montague (Dr. Montague was interviewed on the Brain Science Podcast #15.)
The Problem of the Soul: Two Visions of Mind and How to Reconcile Them (2003)
by Owen Flanagan
Freedom Evolves (2003) by Daniel C. Dennett
Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul (1994) by Francis Crick
Links of Interest
The Garden of Forking Paths-A philosophy blog devoted to agency theory, including related issues in Philosphy of Action, Moral Psychology, Metaphysics and Ethics
I will try to expand this list in the future.
Since we have moved to our new website if you want to comment on this episode or link to this post please go to http://docartemis.com/blog/2007/07/20/books-and-ideas-12-does-free-will-exist/.
Filed under: Books, Podcast Show Notes, philosophy | Tagged: Chris Evatt, Does Free Will Exist?, free will, philososphy
[...] have posted episode 12 of Books and Ideas. It is my response to The Myth of Free Will (2007), which was edited by Cris [...]
I enjoy your podcasts a lot but I found myself rather frustrated by this episode. I agree that the existence of freewill is a very subjective idea that people have very rigid views about. I liked how throughout you reminded the listener when you were asserting your beliefs. In fact, your ability to acknowledge and realise when this is occurring is very refreshing and is one of the reasons why I enjoy listening to your podcasts so much.
What frustrated me about this podcast is that all the ideas discussed from the book were very superficial. None of the ideas provoked any deep thought on the existence of freewill for me. As an example, one of the ideas mentioned is that if our society were to abandon the idea of freewill, then the judiciary system would more effective. I agree with you completely that such a view is very naive but this is not what annoys me. What annoys me is how this idea comes no where near arguing for the non-existence of freewill. The argument can be summarised as follows: “believing that X exists creates unpleasant consequences, ttherefore X does not exists”. Such an argument is simply rubbish.
Kent,
I appreciate the spirit in which you have offered your criticism of this episode.
I certainly agree with the last two sentences of your comment, but I am not sure how I would discuss the argument in more depth. Why would I want to delve more deeply into an argument that is totally without merit.
On the other hand, if there were other aspects of the episode you felt were too superficial, I am willing to acknowledge that is a possible consequence of trying to discuss such a complicated subject in a relatively short podcast.
[...] Chris Evatt share her experiences in India Posted on February 13, 2008 by docartemis Episode 12 of Books and Ideas was a discussion of Chris Evatt’s thought-provoking book The Myth of Free [...]