Preview
  • Free: Why Science Hasn't Disproved Free Will

  • By: Alfred R. Mele
  • Narrated by: LJ Ganser
  • Length: 2 hrs and 11 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (56 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Free: Why Science Hasn't Disproved Free Will

By: Alfred R. Mele
Narrated by: LJ Ganser
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $6.95

Buy for $6.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Does free will exist? The question has fueled heated debates spanning from philosophy to psychology and religion. The answer has major implications, and the stakes are high. To put it in the simple terms that have come to dominate these debates, if we are free to make our own decisions, we are accountable for what we do, and if we aren't free, we're off the hook. There are neuroscientists who claim that our decisions are made unconsciously and are therefore outside of our control and social psychologists who argue that myriad imperceptible factors influence even our minor decisions to the extent that there is no room for free will. According to philosopher Alfred R. Mele, what they point to as hard and fast evidence that free will cannot exist actually leaves much room for doubt. If we look more closely at the major experiments that free-will deniers cite, we can see large gaps where the light of possibility shines through.

In Free: Why Science Hasn't Disproved Free Will, Mele lays out his opponents' experiments simply and clearly, and proceeds to debunk their supposed findings, one by one, explaining how the experiments don't provide the solid evidence for which they have been touted. There is powerful evidence that conscious decisions play an important role in our lives, and knowledge about situational influences can allow people to respond to those influences rationally rather than with blind obedience. Mele also explores the meaning and ramifications of free will. What, exactly, does it mean to have free will - is it a state of our soul, or an undefinable openness to alternative decisions? Is it something natural and practical that is closely tied to moral responsibility? Since evidence suggests that denying the existence of free will actually encourages bad behavior, we have a duty to give it a fair chance.

©2014 Oxford University Press (P)2014 Audible Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Free: Why Science Hasn't Disproved Free Will

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    25
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    26
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    23
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well thought out

The author shows his decades of thought on this topic. He has some unique points and it is worth reading.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Wishing for less freedom and better writing

Meh. A nice, general, response to academics (psychologists, neuroscientists, etc) who claim free will doesn’t exists. It was interesting, but I chose to not like it. Nothing was pre-arranged. It could have gone either way. Certainly, what I’ve experienced and read before influenced how I felt about this book. Perhaps, if I had been educated as a psychologist I might feel differently. I’ll expand on this later. I have to. It was determined the moment I ordered the book. That too was pre-set.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

.

This book summarizes the case for compatibilism very well and employs striking thought experiments. The gas pump analogy to different conceptions of free will was particularly striking.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!