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IMO, Dennett's book is a tour de force review of many others' writing about free will combined with what he considers his own contributions to the philosophical
by PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago
IMO, Dennett's book is a tour de force review of many others' writing about free will combined with what he considers his own contributions to the philosophical ideas around it. It is a relatively easy read, but also profound, and (again, IMO) he dispenses with your "The only free will that matters is: can we defy physics..." quite thoroughly and effectively.
Reading the back cover is certainly not an adequate way to assess the contents (not that it ever is, but is certainly is not in this case).
- altruios 3y agoI'll put it in my reading list and get to it soon. But these are ideas that I have been looking at for a long time... and previous refutations of 'free will' as 'actually it's just these feed-back systems and we shouldn't think or worry about John Locke's locked door', have been unsatisfactory. Also - having read the short story - 'Where Am I' relies heavily on the author's incredulity to make their arguments... which is unconvincing to me. Not being able to conceive of something is different than the reality of that thing. It's a story about confusing subjective experience with objective reality. The reality of the 'self' is different than your own point of view of what that self is. Your subjective experience is just that: subjective and not objective... He also makes dubious claims in that story like 'the self can move faster than the speed of light'... That's going to need some evidence to claim something that fantastical... It is a fantastic story, fun and fantastical, and asks interesting questions...