The Free Will Delusion

How we settled for the illusion of morality

by James B. Miles

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Pub Date 28 Mar 2015 | Archive Date 18 Apr 2015

Troubador Publishing Ltd | Matador

Health, Mind & Body | Nonfiction (Adult)

Description

Expanding on work described as “crucial” and “very fine and provocative” by the Editor of The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, author James Miles now shows not only that free will is a delusion but that it is this delusion that has left us with only the illusion of morality.

Belief in free will means never having to acknowledge your own great good fortune, or recognise the far greater misfortune of others.

It is the conceit of freedom of the will that today ensures that so many at the bottom are denied any chance of social and economic advancement. Some free will theorists even argue that we need not be concerned with ideals of equality, fair play and opportunity. Is this fair? “Is it fair...? Life isn’t fair”, shrugs the free will philosopher Dan Dennett. Yes, life is not fair, and if we leave it up to the priests and the philosophers, it never will be.

The Free Will Delusion is an eloquent and rousing call to arms that we can be, we must be, better than this.

A Note From the Publisher

James B. Miles is a leading writer on the moral implications of the free will conceit and has been published across philosophy, social science and natural science journals.

Advance Praise

“A remarkable book that covers an enormous range of positions, ideas, and writers on free will and moral responsibility, which is already impressive. But to take this often esoteric material and form it into a book that is powerful, provocative, clear, accessible, and a joy to read: that is a singular achievement."
Prof. Bruce Waller, philosopher, and author of Freedom Without Responsibility and Against Moral Responsibility

“A terrific book… bold and provocative, yet rigorously argued... Miles maintains a hard incompatibilist and anti-utilitarian position against the most prominent defenders of a belief in free will strong enough to support moral responsibility, including Kane, Searle, Dennett, Watson, Fischer, Frankfurt, P. F. Strawson, and the free will illusionist Saul Smilansky... The Free Will Delusion is passionate, compassionate, and an exciting read. Highly recommended”
Dr Richard Double, philosopher and author of The Non-reality of Free Will and Metaphilosophy and Free Will, both published by OUP

"In this impassioned critique of views on free will, Miles decisively rebuts the morally problematic claim that people are to blame for who they become, lighting the way toward more fair and effective responses to wrong-doing and social inequality."
Tom Clark, Director, Center for Naturalism