1st Edition

Dialogues on Free Will

By Laura W. Ekstrom Copyright 2026
190 Pages
by Routledge

190 Pages
by Routledge

190 Pages
by Routledge

What kinds of conversations might take place when two intelligent and informed young people – one a strong believer in free will and the other just as certain that we don’t have it – get together to discuss their viewpoints? This new volume in the  Philosophical Dialogues on Contemporary Problems  series introduces both sides of this age-old philosophical debate in a fun and... Read more

Prologue

Part I: The Case for Free Will

Day 1: Does religion show that we have free will?

Day 2: Does interpersonal moral responsibility show that we have free will?

Day 3: Does our humanity show that we have free will?

Day 4: Does love show that we have free will?

Day 5: Does the feeling of freely choosing show that we have free will?

Part II: The Case Against Free Will

Day 6: Does God’s existence show that we do not have free will?

Day 7: Does causal determinism show that we do not have free will?

Day 8: Does causal indeterminism show that we do not have free will?

Day 9: Does social psychology show that we do not have free will?

Day 10: Does neuroscience show that we do not have free will?

Conclusion: Day 11: Summing Up

Annotated Bibliography

Biography

Laura W. Ekstrom is Chancellor Professor of Philosophy at William & Mary. She is the author of Evil and Theodicy (2023), God, Suffering, and the Value of Free Will (2021), and Free Will: A Philosophical Study (2000), as well as numerous academic articles.