Free Will Explained
How Science and Philosophy Converge to Create a Beautiful Illusion

Every book I read on the topic of “free will”—and I have read a handful to date—invariably brings me tantalizingly close to an epiphany, to an “Aha!” moment in which I can say: “Oh…I get it now!” But with equal frequency, once I am halfway or more into the book, the moment is gone, and I am left wit......more

I read a portion of this book before purchase and was very excited to read it. The first couple chapters did a great job dispelling the idea of what Barker calls the 'Libertarian Free Will'. After completing the first few chapters I felt that he had given excellent arguments for Hard Determinism, an......more

I had a difficult time understanding Barker's argument in this book. He keeps equating free will with jazz and a chipmunk he likes to feed on his porch (v. cute tho). It was later in the book that I started understanding why he thinks his acompatibilist view of free will works (a term he coined) & w......more

Dan Barker does a good job of explaining the concept of free will as an illusion much like what Daniel Dennett does in his philosophical writings. Barker uses a number of good analogies to explain how FW is a useful illusion--one that is necessary for humans to live as responsible, accountable membe......more

Dan Barker presents his argument clearly with many anecdotal/metaphorical examples of what he is trying to illustrate. His argument, of course, assumes that free will is an illusion. But, as he describes, a useful one that we can learn much from. I enjoyed this idea of "harmonic free will" arising a......more