Pereboom, Derk, Free Will, Agency, and Meaning In Life

Excerpt

Derk Pereboom ‘s Free Will, Agency, and Meaning In Life is an excellent addition to the contemporary Free Will and Moral Responsibility debate. In this book Pereboom seeks to respond to a variety of criticisms to Free Will Skepticism, which is the view that it is unlikely that we have the freedom required for moral responsibility. As such, Free Will Skeptics argue that we should pragmatically adopt behaviors and institutions that assume we do not have such free will (pp. 3-4). Pereboom also seeks to address a number of interesting responses to his Four-case manipulation argument. In effect, Pereboom’s book serves as a rejoinder to the literature which followed his previous book Living Without Free Will. The underlying strategy is much the same, though he makes great strides towards explicating the expanse of views that his 4 case manipulation argument affects, and addressing the worries raised by his opponents. …