Flickers of Freedom

Near Death Experiences

John Martin Fischer and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin have a new book out entitled, Near-Death Experiences Understanding Visions of the Afterlife. While free will is not the focus of the book, Fishcer and Mitchell-Yellin address a number of issues that will be of interest to readers of this blog.  Here is the abstract:

Near-death experiences offer a glimpse not only into the nature of death but also into the meaning of life. They are not only useful tools to aid in the human quest to understand death but are also deeply meaningful, transformative experiences for the people who have them.

In a unique contribution to the growing and popular literature on the subject, philosophers John Martin Fischer and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin examine prominent near-death experiences, such as those of Pam Reynolds, Eben Alexander and Colton Burpo. They combine their investigations with critiques of the narratives' analysis by those who take them to show that our minds are immaterial and heaven is for real. In contrast, the authors provide a blueprint for a science-based explanation. Focusing on the question of whether near-death experiences provide evidence that consciousness is separable from our brains and bodies, Fischer and Mitchell-Yellin give a naturalistic account of the profound meaning and transformative effects that these experiences engender in many. This book takes the reality of near-death experiences seriously. But it also shows that understanding them through the tools of science is completely compatible with acknowledging their profound meaning.

Congrats to John and Ben on what looks like an interesting read!

McKenna and Pereboom: A Dynamic Duo!

Our own Michael McKenna and Derk Pereboom have a new book out entitled Free Will: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge 2016). Needless to say, it looks to be a wonderful introductory text for those looking to get caught up on the current debates surrounding free will and moral responsibility. Here is the abstract:

As an advanced introduction to the challenging topic of free will, this book is designed for upper-level undergraduates interested in a comprehensive first-stop into the field’s issues and debates. It is written by two of the leading participants in those debates—a compatibilist on the issue of free will and determinism (Michael McKenna) and an incompatibilist (Derk Pereboom). These two authors achieve an admirable objectivity and clarity while still illuminating the field’s complexity and key advances. Each chapter is structured to work as one week’s primary reading in a course on free will, while more advanced courses can dip into the annotated further readings, suggested at the end of each chapter. A comprehensive bibliography as well as detailed subject and author indexes are included at the back of the book.

As an incompatibilist who has worked with compatibilists on co-authored projects in the past, I know how difficult and rewarding it can be. I am confident the joint collaboration between Michael and Derk is especially illuminating. So, I am excited to take a look at what they've come up with together.

Bruce Waller's Restorative Free Will: Back to the Biological Base

Here is a link to my review of Bruce Waller's new book--Restorative Free Will: Back to the Biological Base--over at NDPR. 

 

http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/63604-restorative-free-will-back-to-the-biological-base/

 

I thought I would share it here so others can comment if they like, either on the review itself or the book. Hopefully Bruce will have time to jump in and respond! I would like to say that Bruce is a good friend and the book is really worth reading (run out and get a copy today!). We generally agree about most things, especially when it comes to moral responsibility and the notion of just deserts, but we have had an ongoing friendly disagreement about free will preservationism vs. eliminativism for a while. The review, I think, frames our disagreement nicely. We usually get around to arguing about it after a few drinks, and only after first discussing the pernicious nature of the moral responsibility system. I look forward to our next encounter...but for now, at least we have Flickers! 

For your holiday wishlist . . . OUR FATE!!!

John Fischer has a new book out*—Our Fate (OUP 2016). Details here: 

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/our-fate-9780199311293?cc=us&lang=en&

The volume has a substantial intro on God, free will, causal determination, and moral responsibility, and the book defends the compatibilism of moral responsibility with God's comprehensive foreknowledge, as well as the possibility of God's foreknowledge of our future actions in a causally indeterministic world. So, this is a perfect seasonal gift, now and in any future of which God has knowledge. 

*Or just about out. It looks like you can order it from OUP, although at the moment this post was written, the copyright is in the future. Magic is real, people.

Neglected Papers?

While we're waiting for our next featured author (thanks Sarah for engaging posts that I would have liked to engage with more, but for lack of time), I thought I'd ask the community if they think there are any papers (or books) from the 20th century that have been neglected in contemporary discussions of free will, moral responsibility, and related areas. 

 

Bound by Shaun Nichols

Haven't seen it mentioned, apologies if I missed it: Shaun Nichols recently published an excellent new book that should be of great interest to everyone here: Bound: Essays on Free Will and Responsibility. Substantial portions of the material was published before, but Shaun brings everything together in a superb study, that has all the features one expects from Shaun's work: exhaustive knowledge of the relevant philosophical literature, deep probes into the results of an amazing range of psychological and experimental philosophy studies, and a thoughtful "counter-revolutionary" conclusion that is interesting and insightful and enlightening (even for those "revolutionaries" who are not quite convinced by it).

Dana Nelkin Runner Up for Sanders Prize

We should note with pride that the runner up for the 2015 Sanders Book Prize for “the best book in philosophy of mind, metaphysics, or epistemology that engages the analytic tradition published in English in the previous five year period” was our own Dana Nelkin for Making Sense of Freedom and Responsibility, as announced by the APA today. Her book:

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Sense-Freedom-Responsibility-Nelkin/dp/0199608563

Wonderful, and heartiest congratulations.

Freedom, Fatalism, and Foreknowledge

Our own John Martin Fischer and Patrick Todd have edited a new anthology entitled, Freedom, Fatalism, and Foreknowledge (OUP 2015). The volume contains 16 previously published articles with a substantial new introductory essay along with an helpful bibliography. I thought readers of Flickers of Freedom might be interested to know the book is available (or very soon to be available).

The Moral Brain (MIT Press)

MIT Press has just published what appears to be an excellent volume entitled The Moral Brain: A Multidisciplinary Perspective (edited by Jean Decety and Thalia Wheatley). Given the topics covered (and the all star cast of contributors), the volume ought to be on the reading list of the people who visit this blog! Here is the official description:  

Over the past decade, an explosion of empirical research in a variety of fields has allowed us to understand human moral sensibility as a sophisticated integration of cognitive, emotional, and motivational mechanisms shaped through evolution, development, and culture. Evolutionary biologists have shown that moral cognition evolved to aid cooperation; developmental psychologists have demonstrated that the elements that underpin morality are in place much earlier than we thought; and social neuroscientists have begun to map brain circuits implicated in moral decision making. This volume offers an overview of current research on the moral brain, examining the topic from disciplinary perspectives that range from anthropology and neurophilosophy to justice and law.

The contributors address the evolution of morality, considering precursors of human morality in other species as well as uniquely human adaptations. They examine motivations for morality, exploring the roles of passion, extreme sacrifice, and cooperation. They go on to consider the development of morality, from infancy to adolescence; findings on neurobiological mechanisms of moral cognition; psychopathic immorality; and the implications for justice and law of a more biological understanding of morality. These new findings may challenge our intuitions about society and justice, but they may also lead to more a humane and flexible legal system.

Contributors
Scott Atran, Abigail A. Baird, Nicolas Baumard, Sarah Brosnan, Jason M. Cowell, Molly J. Crockett, Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza, Andrew W. Delton, Mark R. Dadds, Jean Decety, Jeremy Ginges, Andrea L. Glenn, Joshua D. Greene, J. Kiley Hamlin, David J. Hawes, Jillian Jordan, Max M. Krasnow, Ayelet Lahat, Jorge Moll, Caroline Moul, Alexander Peysakhovich, Laurent Prétôt, Jesse Prinz, David G. Rand, Rheanna J. Remmel, Emma Roellke, Regina A. Rini, Joshua Rottman, Mark Sheskin, Thalia Wheatley, Liane Young, Roland Zahn.

Hopefully, this volume will stimulate more interesting discussions concerning the nature and limits of moral psychology!

The Stubborn System of Morality (MIT Press)

Our own Bruce Waller has published what appears to be another fascinating book entitled, The Stubborn System of Morality (MIT Press 2015). It's in my stack of books to read in the coming months. Given that I share many of Waller's views, I am especially excited to see what he has come up with this time around.  That said, here is the official description:

The philosophical commitment to moral responsibility seems unshakable. But, argues Bruce Waller, the philosophical belief in moral responsibility is much stronger than the philosophical arguments in favor of it. Philosophers have tried to make sense of moral responsibility for centuries, with mixed results. Most contemporary philosophers insist that even conclusive proof of determinism would not and should not result in doubts about moral responsibility. Many embrace compatibilist views, and propose an amazing variety of competing compatibilist arguments for saving moral responsibility. In this provocative book, Waller examines the stubborn philosophical belief in moral responsibility, surveying the philosophical arguments for it but focusing on the system that supports these arguments: powerful social and psychological factors that hold the belief in moral responsibility firmly in place.

Waller argues that belief in moral responsibility is not isolated but rather is a central element of a larger belief system; doubting or rejecting moral responsibility will involve major adjustments elsewhere in a wide range of beliefs and values. Belief in moral responsibility is one strand of a complex and closely woven fabric of belief, comprising threads from biology, psychology, social institutions, criminal justice, religion, and philosophy. These dense interconnections, Waller contends, make it very difficult to challenge the belief in moral responsibility at the center. They not only influence the philosophical arguments in favor of moral responsibility but also add powerful extraphilosophical support for it.

In addition to covering an interesting and important topic, Waller's book also has a great cover!  I look forward to making my way through the arguments contained therein!