GREAT PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATES Free Will and Determinism

One cannot help appreciating Professor Nichols's brisk, enthusiastic informality, especially the simple, lucid way he clarifies intricate concepts from a plethora of sources. Specifically, he delves into quantum mechanics, neuroscience, game theory, psychology, and other disciplines, in addition to straight philosophy, to argue whether humans possess free will or human decisions—indeed all natural phenomena—are predetermined by everything that has come before. What makes the age-old free will versus determinism debate significant, as the lecturer emphasizes, is its impact on the principle of moral responsibility. Lacking free will, how can anyone be held morally responsible for his or her actions? Nichols takes up this question at length in the concluding lectures, along with tangential issues related to crime and punishment. Y.R. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2009]