Overview

"From the New York Times bestselling author of The End of Faith, a thought-provoking, ""brilliant and witty"" (Oliver Sacks) look at the notion of free will—and the implications that it is an illusion. A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion. In this enlightening book, Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life."

Full Product Details

9781451683400

Table of Contents

Reviews

If you believe in free will, or know someone who does, here is the perfect antidote. In this smart, engaging, and extremely readable little book, Sam Harris argues that free will doesn't exist, that we're better off knowing that it doesn't exist, and that--once we think about it in the right way--we can appreciate from our own experience that it doesn't exist. This is a delightful discussion by one of the sharpest scholars around. <p>--Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology, Yale University, and author of How Pleasure Works

Brilliant and witty--and never less than incisive-- Free Will shows that Sam Harris can say more in 13,000 words than most people do in 100,000. --Oliver Sacks

In this elegant and provocative book Sam Harris tackles the question of how our internal sense of free will can co-exist with determinism. He resolves this age-old paradox with great intellectual ferocity and panache by demonstrating that free will is an inherently flawed and incoherent concept even in subjective terms. If he is right, the book will radically change the way we view ourselves as human beings. --V.S. Ramachandran, Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, UCSD, and author of The Tell-Tale Brain

If you believe in free will, or know someone who does, here is the perfect antidote. In this smart, engaging, and extremely readable little book, Sam Harris argues that free will doesn't exist, that we're better off knowing that it doesn't exist, and that--once we think about it in the right way--we can appreciate from our own experience that it doesn't exist. This is a delightful discussion by one of the sharpest scholars around. --Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology, Yale University, and author of How Pleasure Works

Free will is an illusion so convincing that people simply refuse to believe that we don't have it. In Free Will, Sam Harris combines neuroscience and psychology to lay this illusion to rest at last. Like all of Harris's books, this one will not only unsettle you but make you think deeply. Read it: you have no choice. --Jerry A. Coyne, Professor of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, and author of Why Evolution Is True

Author Information

Sam Harris is the author of the bestselling books The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, Free Will, and Lying. The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction. His writing has been published in over fifteen languages. Dr. Harris is cofounder and CEO of Project Reason, a nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. He received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA. Please visit his website at SamHarris.org.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available