The Significance of Free Will

Reviews / Votes

Kane furnishes his reader with a uniformly illuminating tour through the labyrinths of the free will debate. A careful reader of Kane can return to the philosophical literature with greater understanding and profit. David M. Ciocchi, Philosophia Christi, Vol.1, No.2, 1999 substantial contribution to the free will/determinism debate ... Kane provides a stimulating survey of the recent debate ... In a brief review cannot do justice to the richness of the argument in Kane's book. It is, quite simply, one of the clearest and most rewarding treatments of the theme and one which should appeal greatly to those who wish to be brought up date on the debate. * Alexander McCall Smith, * His complex and carefully argued book ... is the culmination of twenty-five years of thought on the matter ... How successful is Kane in providing an account of freedom of the will is both adequate and to our pre-theoretical understanding and yet consonant with physical theorizing? In my judgement, he has gone farther than any other philosopher working within the constraint of making no basic ontological posits concerning only persons and their capacities. * Times Literary Supplement * Provides the most fully articulated, the most comprehensive, and the best case for libertarianism that has ever been devised. * Richard Double, University of Pennsylvania * A magisterial work [that] culminates twenty-five years of thinking about the problems of free will. * Mark Bernstein, University of Texas at San Antonio * It is a truly splendid book. Remarkably well organized and original, Significance requires rethinking standard convictions in the freedom/determinism debate about explanation, causation, responsibility, and worth. It's a must read for philosophers, psychologists, and cognitive scientists. * George Graham, University of Alabama at Birmingham * This is, quite simply, the most thoughtful and detailed defense of libertarianism currently available. * Alfred Mele, Davidson College *