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Outline Course outline and information sheet in pdf
John Martin Fischer and Mark Ravizza (eds.) Perspectives on Moral Responsibility (Cornell U P 1993) Daniel Dennett Freedom Evolves (Penguin 2004) Daniel Wegner, The Illusion of Conscious Will (MIT Press, 2003) Of these, only the Watson, which is a recent collection of key papers, is really essential to start with. The Fischer and Ravizza provides a number of additional papers that might be interesting; but I wouldn't advise buying it straightaway unless you are very keen. The Dennett and Wegner books raise various issues about the bearing of empirical work; we'll be discussing this towards the end of the course. In addition I have put a number of other books on reserve:
Robert Kane (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Free Will (OUP 2002) Assignments Handouts and Readings
Wednesday September 8: Introductory session Week Two
Monday September 13: The Classical Compatibilist account [Handout]
Hobbes Leviathan Ch. XXI Wednesday September 15: Refining the Consequence Argument and 'Could have done otherwise' [Handout]
As much as you feel you can read of van Inwagen, 'An Argument for Incompatibilism' in Watson Notes on modal logic and counterfactuals Week Three
Monday September 20: Denying Closure of unavoidability [Handout]
Wednesday September 22: Lewis on law breaking
For background on this have a look at his 'Counterfactual Dependence and Time's Arrow' Nous 13 (1979) 455-76 [JSTOR from outside MIT] Week Four Monday September 27: Modal Metaphysics [Handout]
Additional Reading: Gideon Rosen, 'Modal Fictionalism' Mind 1990 JSTOR from outside MIT
Week Five Monday October 4: Libertarianism I [Handout]
Week Six
Monday October 11: Columbus Day Holiday
David Lewis 'The Paradoxes of Time Travel' American Philosophical Quarterly, 13 (1976) 145-52. Week Seven Monday October 18: Frankfurt on Alternate Possibilities [Handout]
Locke's anticipation of Frankfurt occurs in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book II, Chapter XXI, Section 10 Week Eight
Monday October 25 Strawson [Handout]
Susan Wolf, 'The Importance of Freewill' Mind 90 (1981)
Week Nine
Monday November 1: Frankfurt's Higher Order account [Handout]
Wednesday November 3: Reactions to Frankfurt
Week Ten
Monday November 8: Reason Responsiveness; Wolf [Handout]
Wednesday November 10:Choosing; intentions; weakness of will
Week Eleven
Monday November 15: Choice and Freedom [Handout]
Week Twelve
Monday November 22: Empirical work: Social psychology I [Handout]
Wegner, The Illusion of Conscious Will esp. Chs 1 - 3 Week Thirteen Monday November 29: Empirical work: Social Psychology II [Handout]
Alex Byrne, "Some Like It HOT: consciousness and higher-order thoughts"
Robinson, T.E. & Berridge, K.C. Addiction. Annual Review of Psychology, v. 54, pp. 25-53, 2003 Berridge and Robinson 'The Mind of an Addicted Brain' Current Directions in Psychological Science 4/3 (1995) G. Watson, 'Excusing Addiction' Law and Philosophy 1999 |