Accessible to students with no background in the subject, A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will provides an extensive and up-to-date overview of all the latest views on this central problem of philosophy. Opening with a concise introduction to the history of the problem of free will--and its place in the history of philosophy--the book then turns to contemporary debates and theories about free will, determinism, and related subjects like moral responsibility, coercion, compulsion, autonomy, agency, rationality, freedom, and more. Classical compatibilist and new compatibilist theories of free will are considered along with the latest incompatibilist or libertarian theories and the most recent skeptical challenges to free will. Separate chapters are devoted to the relation of free will to moral responsibility and ethics; to modern science; and to religious questions about predestination, divine foreknowledge, and human freedom. Numerous down-to-earth examples and challenging thought experiments enliven the text. The book is an ideal addition to introduction to philosophy, metaphysics, and free will courses.

Acknowledgments 1. The Free Will Problem 2. Compatibilism 3. Incompatibilism 4. Libertarianism, Indeterminism, and Chance 5. Minds, Selves, and Agent Causes 6. Actions, Reasons, and Causes 7. Is Free Will Possible? Hard Determinists and Other Skeptics 8. Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities 9. Higher-order Desires, Real Selves, and New Compatibilists 10. Reactive Attitude Theories 11. Ultimate Responsibility 12. Free Will and Modern Science 13. Predestination, Divine Foreknowledge, and Free Will 14. Conclusion: Five Freedoms Notes Index

Robert KaneProfessor of Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin

"This book, by far, stands alone as the best book to introduce this topic to the introductory philosophy student. It is stellar. . . . Kane is a master at capturing the kernel of even the most challenging and intricate issues in the free will debate, showing their structures and displaying an underlying simplicity."--Michael McKenna, Ithaca College |k No