Free Will

Sam Harris

• Publisher: Free Press
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781451683479
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophy & Ethics in Science

From the New York Times bestselling author of The End of Faith, a thought-provoking, "brilliant and witty" (Oliver Sacks) look at the notion of free will —and the implications that it is an illusion. A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion. In this enlightening book, Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life.

INDEX

actions:

brain and, 69n

freedom to reinterpret meaning of, 40

modification of, through punishment or incentives, 59–60

past, free will and, 6, 39–40, 77n

as products of impersonal events, 27

seen as “self-generated,” 27–29

voluntary vs. involuntary, 12–13, 31–32, 41–42

see also intentions

agency, sense of:

experimental manipulation of, 24–25

free will and, 23–26

attention, directing of, as conscious act, 31–32

backward masking, 70n

bacteria, in human bodies, 23–24

behavior, see actions

brain:

causal states of, 34

disorders and tumors of, 50, 51, 53–54, 55–56

dual systems in, 9, 32, 69n–70n

medial prefrontal cortex of, 50, 58

as subject to laws of nature, 11–12

subliminal presentation of stimuli to, 70n–71n

see also neurophysiology

brain activity, as preceding consciousness of intent, 8–11

brain scans, 8–11, 24, 69n–72n

chance, 27–28

see also luck

change, possibility of, 62–63

child abuse, 3–4, 50, 51

choice:

as causal brain state, 24

importance of, 34–35

as product of prior events, 34, 43–44

seeming spontaneity of, 6, 37

stories as explanations of, 35, 37, 43–44

see also intentions

Clark, Tom, 20–23

cognition, 69n

Cohen, Jonathan, 73n–74n

compassion, 45

compatibilism, 15–26

free will as defined by, 16–17, 39–40, 74n

moral responsibility and, 18

consciousness:

delayed sensory feedback and, 73n

as dependent on working memory, 72n

free will and, 6, 26

intentions as appearing but not originating in, 8

unconscious origins of, 5, 7–14

Consciousness Explained (Dennett), 74n

conservatives, free will and, 61–62

Coyne, Jerry, 76n

criminals, criminal behavior:

causes of, 3–5

as dangers to society, 52–53, 56

deterrence of, 56, 58–59

empathy for,...