Overview

The Limits of Free Will presents influential articles by Paul Russell concerning free will and moral responsibility. The problems arising in this field of philosophy, which are deeply rooted in the history of the subject, are also intimately related to a wide range of other fields, such as law and criminology, moral psychology, theology, and, more recently, neuroscience. These articles were written and published over a period of three decades, although most have appeared in the past decade. Among the topics covered: the challenge of skepticism; moral sentiment and moral capacity; necessity and the metaphysics of causation; practical reason; free will and art; fatalism and the limits of agency; moral luck, and our metaphysical attitudes of optimism and pessimism. Some essays are primarily critical in character, presenting critiques and commentary on major works or contributions in the contemporary scene. Others are mainly constructive, aiming to develop and articulate a distinctive account of compatibilism. The general theory advanced by Russell, which he describes as a form of ""critical compatibilism"", rejects any form of unqualified or radical skepticism; but it also insists that a plausible compatibilism has significant and substantive implications about the limits of agency and argues that this licenses a metaphysical attitude of (modest) pessimism on this topic. While each essay is self-standing, there is nevertheless a core set of themes and issues that unite and link them together. The collection is arranged and organized in a format that enables the reader to appreciate and recognize these links and core themes.

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9780190627638

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Reviews

What stands out especially about this collection is the way in which Russell marries matters of fate and luck with our conception of ourselves as agents more broadly beyond the moral realm ... The merits of this collection go well beyond being a valuable compendium of critical assessment of contemporary optimism and skepticism about moral responsibility. Russell harnesses decades of reflection on moral responsibility to construct a distinctive yet measured compatibilist alternative, one that acknowledges the limits of human control while upholding the dignity of our moral life. -- Robyn Repko Waller, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews These are all uniformly excellent papers, beautifully written and offering a unique and important perspective on the topics of free will and moral responsibility. Michael McKenna, University of Arizona Paul Russell's subtle, incisive, and deeply human essays have had enormous influence on work in agency and responsibility for going on three decades. One cannot understand the state of play in many of the wide range of topics in the field without grappling with Russell's sharp critical insights and deftly drawn positions. David Shoemaker, Tulane University This is the Golden Age of free will philosophy. Paul Russell is a very significant participant in this, and moreover a philosopher with a distinct and rare voice. This volume will be very welcome in this respect, rightly positioning him as a central figure in the contemporary free will debate. Saul Smilansky, University of Haifa

""What stands out especially about this collection is the way in which Russell marries matters of fate and luck with our conception of ourselves as agents more broadly beyond the moral realm ... The merits of this collection go well beyond being a valuable compendium of critical assessment of contemporary optimism and skepticism about moral responsibility. Russell harnesses decades of reflection on moral responsibility to construct a distinctive yet measured compatibilist alternative, one that acknowledges the limits of human control while upholding the dignity of our moral life."" -- Robyn Repko Waller, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews ""These are all uniformly excellent papers, beautifully written and offering a unique and important perspective on the topics of free will and moral responsibility."" Michael McKenna, University of Arizona ""Paul Russell's subtle, incisive, and deeply human essays have had enormous influence on work in agency and responsibility for going on three decades. One cannot understand the state of play in many of the wide range of topics in the field without grappling with Russell's sharp critical insights and deftly drawn positions."" David Shoemaker, Tulane University ""This is the Golden Age of free will philosophy. Paul Russell is a very significant participant in this, and moreover a philosopher with a distinct and rare voice. This volume will be very welcome in this respect, rightly positioning him as a central figure in the contemporary free will debate."" Saul Smilansky, University of Haifa

"""What stands out especially about this collection is the way in which Russell marries matters of fate and luck with our conception of ourselves as agents more broadly beyond the moral realm ... The merits of this collection go well beyond being a valuable compendium of critical assessment of contemporary optimism and skepticism about moral responsibility. Russell harnesses decades of reflection on moral responsibility to construct a distinctive yet measured compatibilist alternative, one that acknowledges the limits of human control while upholding the dignity of our moral life."" -- Robyn Repko Waller, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews ""These are all uniformly excellent papers, beautifully written and offering a unique and important perspective on the topics of free will and moral responsibility."" Michael McKenna, University of Arizona ""Paul Russell's subtle, incisive, and deeply human essays have had enormous influence on work in agency and responsibility for going on three decades. One cannot understand the state of play in many of the wide range of topics in the field without grappling with Russell's sharp critical insights and deftly drawn positions."" David Shoemaker, Tulane University ""This is the Golden Age of free will philosophy. Paul Russell is a very significant participant in this, and moreover a philosopher with a distinct and rare voice. This volume will be very welcome in this respect, rightly positioning him as a central figure in the contemporary free will debate."" Saul Smilansky, University of Haifa"

Author Information

Paul Russell, Professor in Philosophy, University of British Columbia and Lund University. Paul Russell is Professor in Philosophy at the University of British Columbia and Lund University. His publications include Freedom and Moral Sentiment: Hume's Way of Naturalizing Responsibility (Oxford University Press, 1995); The Riddle of Hume's Treatise: Skepticism, Naturalism, and Irreligion (Oxford University Press, 2008); and editor of The Philosophy of Free Will (Oxford University, 2013).

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