Derk Pereboom articulates and defends an original conception of moral responsibility. He argues that if determinism were true we would not be morally responsible in the key basic-desert sense at issue in the free will debate, but that we would also lack this kind of moral responsibility if indeterminism were true and the causes of our actions were exclusively states or events. It is possible that if we were undetermined agent-causes-if we as substances had the power to cause decisions without being causally determined to cause them-we would have this kind of free will. But although our being undetermined agent causes has not been ruled out as a coherent possibility, it's not credible given our best physical theories. Pereboom then contends that a conception of life without the free will required for moral responsibility in the basic-desert sense would nevertheless allow for a different, forward-looking conception of moral responsibility. He also argues that our lacking this sort of free will would not jeopardize our sense of ourselves as agents capable of rational deliberation, that it is compatible with adequate measures for dealing with crime and other threatening behavior, and that it allows for a robust sense of achievement and meaning in life. Pereboom's arguments for this position are reconfigured relative to those presented in Living without Free Will (2001), important objections to these arguments are answered, and the development of the positive view is significantly embellished.

About the Author
Derk Pereboom is Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University. He is the author of Living Without Free Will (Cambridge 2001), Consciousness and the Prospects of Physicalism (Oxford 2011), and of articles on free will and moral responsibility, philosophy of mind, and the history of modern philosophy, especially Immanuel Kant.

Reviews
This new book will be a vital resource for students of free will and moral responsibility: it is a state-of-the-art defence of one of the central positions in the debate, elaborated by its foremost exponent. Of particular interest will be the ways in which Pereboom's thinking has evolved over the years and the thoughtful attention he gives to criticisms of his earlier work. Matthew Talbert, Mind Pereboom's book is a wonderful addition to the moral responsibility debate, which not only organizes the contemporary responses to the worries of the Hard Incompatibilism, but also quite helpfully engages with those responses to press the discussion and our understanding forward. For those new comers interested in the state of the contemporary debate which are either interested in Hard Determinism or worried about the prospects of alternative views given Determinism this book is a helpful guide for finding your footing. And for those already familiar with the literature, it will be a welcome addition to your library. Shane J. George, Journal of Value Inquiry this book s a masterful and comprehensive articulation of Derk Perebooms very important and original theory of free will and moral responsibility. Throughout his career, and especially here in this book, Pereboom has developed and defended one of the real contenders as a comprehensive theory of freedom and responsibility. This is a huge, and admirable, intellectual achievement John Martin Fischer, Science, Religion, and Culture a must-read for anyone in the world interested in these foundational issues ... will be a centerpiece of the conversation about the metaphysics of free will, about morality, about moral responsibility and our related emotions and practices, about the pressing practical and moral issues concerning punishment, and about meaning in life ... a wonderful manifestation of a commitment to certain intellectual values, including seeing philosophy as an inclusive conversation, and to testing and revising ones views in the search for truth Dana Nelkin, Science, Religion, and Culture It is hard to imagine a more rigorously defended articulation of free will skepticism ... This book is state of the art, and it should be taught widely David Shoemaker, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Derk Perebooms Free Will, Agency, and Meaning in Life is an impressive, wideranging book. Alfred R. Mele, Criminal Law and Philosophy



Book Information
ISBN 9780199685516
Author Derk Pereboom
Format Hardback
Page Count 228
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 508g
Dimensions(mm) 241mm * 164mm * 21mm