Free Will & Determinism Books - Page 5

Free Will: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Thomas Pink

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

I finished it! 4 out of 5 stars.
19 of 26 people found this review helpful.

OK, for me this was a supremely difficult piece of reading. It was ultimately worth the effort--difficult but very satisfying. The work is more an argument in favor of Prof. Pink's philosophy than a dispassionate summation of this field of inquiry. It is recommended not for the value of Prof. Pink's argument but as a compelling introduction to the subject itself. Frankly, I have tried and abandoned several works in philosophy. Recognizing that my difficulty arose from a lack of familiarity with the basic concepts and vocabulary of the discipline, I resolved to attempt the very short introduction and was pleased to find that it has primed me with concepts, ideas and an interest in pursuing further reading on the topic.

Personally, I enjoy the philosopher's talent in finding hitherto unexplored depths in the most common of ideas; of focusing us on questions that have been glossed over. While others will quibble about the particulars of the various doctrines presented in this work, it surpasses many other "overview" books in its painstaking introductions to the difficult ideas at issue and strikes an excellent introductory balance between detail and summary. Herein lies its value; any introduction that leaves the reader with a desire to delve further into the discipline must be considered a success, "Free Will" accomplishes just that.

Editorial Review:

Every day we seem to make and act upon all kinds of choices: some trivial, others so consequential that they change the course of one's life, or even the course of history. But are these choices really free, or are we compelled to act the way we do by factors beyond our control? Is the feeling that we could have made different decisions just an illusion? And if our choices are not free, is it legitimate to hold people morally responsible for their actions?
Thomas Pink looks at the fundamental philosophical question of free will, critically examining the claim: If our actions are causally determined by events beyond our control, that means that we can never act freely, and so can never be held responsible for our actions.

Four Views on Free Will (Great Debates in Philosophy)

John Martin Fischer, Robert Kane, Derk Pereboom, Manuel Vargas

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Editorial Review:

Focusing on the concepts and interactions of free will, moral responsibility, and determinism, this text represents the most up-to-date account of the four major positions in the free will debate.

• Four serious and well-known philosophers explore the opposing viewpoints of libertarianism, compatibilism, hard incompatibilism, and revisionism
  
• The first half of the book contains each philosopher’s explanation of his particular view; the second half allows them to directly respond to each other’s arguments, in a lively and engaging conversation
  
• Offers the reader a one of a kind, interactive discussion
  
• Forms part of the acclaimed Great Debates in Philosophy series

The Emergence of Probability: A Philosophical Study of Early Ideas about Probability, Induction and Statistical Inference (Cambridge Series on Statistical and Probabilistic Mathematic)

Ian Hacking

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Editorial Review:

Historical records show that there was no real concept of probability in Europe before the mid-seventeenth century, although the use of dice and other randomizing objects was commonplace. Ian Hacking presents a philosophical critique of early ideas about probability, induction, and statistical inference and the growth of this new family of ideas in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. The contemporary debates center around figures such as Pascal, Leibniz, and Jacques Bernoulli. Hacking invokes a wider intellectual framework involving the growth of science, economics, and the theology of the period. He argues that the transformations that made it possible for probability concepts to emerge have constrained all subsequent development of probability theory and determine the space within which philosophical debate on the subject is still conducted. First published in 1975, this edition includes a new introduction that contextualizes his book in light of new work and philosophical trends.

The Message of a Master

John McDonald

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Truth 5 out of 5 stars.
25 of 27 people found this review helpful.

If the process of manifestation suggested in this book were to be sincerely followed, you can manifest your own reality.

As someone who has read innumerable 'secret of success ' books , I hold very high regard for this book because I have had
practical demonstrations of its truths.

The one point that the master does not dwell upon is while visualizing the desired situation , one has to pour deep feelings
of joy and gratitude to 'Infinite Intelligence' , 'Intelligent substance ' or God according to your predisposition.

If the appropriate visual blends with your thoughts and feelings and if you can sustain the mental image along with the
thoughts and feelings about the desired manifestation you will see that what was once in your consciousness is now in your
surroundings ( 'As it is within , so it is without ').

I want to quote Swami Vivekananda here -- " Imagination properly employed is our greatest friend ; it goes beyond reason and
is the only light that takes us everywhere ".

It is natural to be skeptical about these topics, but all a person needs is one specific ( be very specific ) manifestation.

I also suggest you to read " The Way Out " by Anonymous , " Door of Everything " by Ruby Nelson , " It Works " by RHJ. Proper
study of these books will help you gain deeper understanding and help you manifest your own reality.


Truth is way stranger than fiction. Have patience and strong will to manifest.

You can create your own miracles.

Good luck.

The Times of Our Lives: Extraordinary True Stories of Synchronicity, Destiny, Meaning, and Purpose

Louise Hay

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Times of Our Lives 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This is a brilliantly inspired work. The collection of true stories go beyond "Chicken Soup" material. Louise Hay and friends have shared their personal lives in ways that reveal destiny, meaning and purpose for all of us. Best of all, this book brings laughter to the lips, tears to the eyes and awe to the heart.
By Eldon Taylor, author of Choices and Illusions: How Did I Get Where I Am, and How Do I Get Where I Want to Be?

Editorial Review:

The true experiences that are featured in this book, introduced by best-selling author Louise L. Hay, have been culled from the writings of some of the most renowned writers and teachers in the fields of self-help, transformation, social consciousness, and spirituality. These are stories reflecting metaphysical miracles; momentous milestones; heartwarming, humorous, and sometimes heartbreaking reminiscences; and extraordinarily poignant personal accounts. 
In addition, there are many narratives that will actually make you sit back in your seat and exclaim, “Wow!”
As you read this uniquely fascinating book, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry . . . and most of all, you’ll be reminded that truth is not only stranger than fiction—it’s infinitelymore interesting!

Freedom and Its Betrayal: Six Enemies of Human Liberty

Isaiah Berlin

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Isaiah Berlin's celebrated radio lectures on six formative anti-liberal thinkers were broadcast by the BBC in 1952. They are published here for the first time, fifty years later. They comprise one of Berlin's earliest and most convincing expositions of his views on human freedom and on the history of ideas--views that later found expression in such famous works as "Two Concepts of Liberty," and were at the heart of his lifelong work on the Enlightenment and its critics. Working with BBC transcripts and Berlin's annotated drafts, Henry Hardy has recreated these lectures, which consolidated the forty-three-year-old Berlin's growing reputation as a man who could speak about intellectual matters in an accessible and involving way.

In his lucid examination of sometimes complex ideas, Berlin demonstrates that a balanced understanding and a resilient defense of human liberty depend on learning both from the errors of freedom's alleged defenders and from the dark insights of its avowed antagonists. This book throws light on the early development of Berlin's most influential ideas and supplements his already published writings with fuller treatments of Helvétius, Rousseau, Fichte, Hegel, and Saint-Simon, with the ultra-conservative Maistre bringing up the rear. These thinkers gave to freedom a new dimension of power--power that, Berlin argues, has historically brought about less, not more, individual liberty.

These lectures show Berlin at his liveliest and most torrentially spontaneous, testifying to his talents as a teacher of rare brilliance and impact. Listeners tuned in expectantly each week to the hour-long broadcasts and found themselves mesmerized by Berlin's astonishingly fluent extempore style. One listener, a leading historian of ideas who was then a schoolboy, was to recount that the lectures "excited me so much that I sat, for every talk, on the floor beside the wireless, taking notes." This excitement is at last recreated here for all to share.

Philosophical Investigations into the Essence of Human Freedom (Suny Series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy)

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Von Schelling

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The Newest Translation 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This book is a valuable contribution to the newest literature and supposed renaissance in Schelling research. Although there are three existing translations, all suffer from the defects familiar to the difficult exercise of translation. Among those, the Love/Schmid version suffers from these same problems, unfortunately.

I mention only one serious error (the others largely being unavoidable) in that Selbstständigkeit is translated as 'independence.' While this word does grasp one of the meanings of Selbstständigkeit, it fails to grasp the richness of the word, especially in its assymetrical opposition to Abhängigkeit (translated as dependence). My only complaint is that the translators did not note this particular locution. However, at almost all other places where there is doubt, they are careful to provide the German text.

The advantage of this edition, which over all existing is significant, is the historical apparatus attached to this edition, including translations of several other timely works that influenced Schelling's thinking (Boehme, Lessing, Baader, Jacobi). Although there is a lot of fascinating contemporary commentary done on the text (and Schelling's work at large) in different venues, little of it actually addresses the context in which the Freiheitsschrift was written. The apparatus attached to this edition fills this lacuna.

Editorial Review:

Schelling's masterpiece investigating evil and freedom.

God is not a Homophobe: An unbiased look at Homosexuality in the Bible

Philo Thelos

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God Is Not A Homophobe 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 12 people found this review helpful.

The book is very informative and objective allowing you to either agree on the facts or disagree. I am well pleased with the book and have recommended it to others who need to know how to study the Bible properly and understand what is written in the context that it is written.

Editorial Review:

Is God a gay-hating ogre? This author's research demonstrates that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality as a consensual life-style. Find out what the Bible really says about homosexuality.

The Essence of Human Freedom: An Introduction to Philosophy (Athlone Contemporary European Thinkers)

Martin Heidegger

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Quintessential Heidegger 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This set of lectures, published for the first time in English, reflect the rigor of Heideggerian method of philosophy. Heidegger discusses the question of human freedom with reference to Kant's pure and practical reason. For Heidegger the essence of human freedom is the fundamental problem of philosophy because it can illuminate the whole through the part.

Heidegger also typically links his question to the 'leading question of philosophy', which permeates Heideggers oeuvre - that of being. After a brief investigation into the positive and negative concepts of freedom in Kant and concepts like causality etc., he explains why it is necessary to understand being to understand human freedom and launches a hermenuetic/etymological inquiry into the concept of being in Aristotle's metaphysics.

At this stage you begin to wonder, why Heidegger is taking you deeper and deeper into the question of being when you are reading the book in order to understand human freedom. But Heidegger rarely follows a line of argument aimlessly. By discussing being and causality, he connects back to Kant to show that there can be a double causation of being and humans are the only beings who can ascertain this causation through their consciousness, bringing human will and freedom back into the picture.

He then discusses the other concept of freedom in Kant, based on 'the categorical imperative' but here he falls a little weak, especially when he dismisses the contributions of Scheler and Hartmann towards a non-formal ethics, (although his grounds of dismissal remain valid in principle, they miss the critique of Scheler).

Yet, this book teaches you more than the essence of human freedom - it teaches you philosophy and the method and duty of philosophy, something which many contemporary philosophers easily forget.

Editorial Review:

This is a fundamental text for understanding Heidegger's view of Greek philosophy and its relationship to modern philosophy. After a preliminary discussion of the problem of freedom and its relationship to philosophy, Heidegger devotes the first part primarily to the meaning of "being" in Greek metaphysics, thus providing the framework for his interpretation of Kant's treatment of freedom and causality in the second part. In no other work by Heidegger do we find as detailed a consideration of Kant's practical philosophy as given in the present text. Further, in no other work is Heidegger's interpretation of Aristotle's "Metaphysics" presented with comparable thoroughness. These previously untranslated lectures were delivered by Heidegger at the University of Freiburg in the summer of 1930.

Synchronicity : Through the Eyes of Science, Myth and the Trickster

Allan Combs, Mark Holland

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The return of human meaning to the cosmos 5 out of 5 stars.
43 of 45 people found this review helpful.

I read the first edition of this book years ago and the concepts in it have haunted me ever since. Then, I bought my own copy of this second edition and found that the ideas contained in it had lost none of their power and were every bit as profound as I had remembered.

Briefly, this book deals with the concept of synchronicity or meaningful coincidence. It deals with it on two levels, the level of science and the level of myth. Indeed, it is shown that synchronistic events in themselves demonstrate the interpenetration of matter (the realm of science) and mind (the realm of myth.) Synchronicity is shown to leap the gap between not only the conscious and unconscious aspects of the mind, but between the world of mind and the world objective events. In this way it corresponds very well to the myth of Hermes, the god of boundaries, and the messenger between the world of the gods and the world of men.

The greatest strength of this book over other treatments of the topic is the clear and up-to-date manner that it addresses the possible scientific explanations of synchronicity. It draws primarily from the world of the new physics. Here is an extremely clear explanation of Bohm's theories on a holographic universe with explicate (physical, day-to-day) and implicate (hidden and fundamental) orders. In spite of the references to the modern world of subatomic physics, it struck me that this sounds remarkably like the hidden currents of the cosmos that occultists have always alluded to. The pattern based theories of Sheldrake, Laszlo, and Chester are also examined and compared. Indeed, the concepts of morphic fields and resonance seem to uncannily resemble the old magical principles of sympathy and correspondence between our own world and the world of archetypes. Indeed, it is shown that a balanced mind (both hemispheres at the same frequency) in deep meditation or prayer may be able to "range" the implicate order and bring about increased instances of synchronicity. Since it is suggested that synchronicity is the real basis for all ESP phenomena ( telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, etc.) it could be said that this is an effective explanation for the concept of sympathetic magic.

The use of the concept of the mythological trickster is especially appropriate and effective. Many times synchronistic coincidences seem to exist for no other reason that to shatter our preconceived and ossified concepts of the universe. That was also the function of Hermes/ Mercurius/ Coyote in mythology. It is also the function of this book in a world still mired in the dogma of materialistic scientism.

Editorial Review:

Carl Jung coined the term "synchronicity" to describe meaningful coincidences that conventional notions of time and causality cannot explain. Working with the great quantum physicist Wolfgang Pauli, Jung sought to reveal these coincidences as phenomena that involve mind and matter, science and spirit, thus providing rational explanations for parapsychological events like telepathy, precognition, and intuition. Synchronicity examines the work of Jung and Pauli, as well as noted scientists Werner Heisenberg and David Bohm; identifies the phenomena in ancient and modern mythologies, particularly the Greek legend of Hermes the Trickster; and illustrates it with engaging anecdotes from everyday life and literature.