Bernard Berofsky's Books

Nature's Challenge to Free Will

By: Bernard Berofsky

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Nature's Challenge to Free Will

By: Bernard Berofsky

Hardly any attempt to come to grips with the classical problem of free will and determinism directly addresses the metaphysical vision driving the concerns of those who believe that a significant sort of free will cannot exist in a deterministic world. According to this vision of such a world, all events, including human decisions and actions, take place as they must because the world is governed by necessity. Most philosophers who believe that free will is possible in a deterministic world ignore this root position, often regarding it as sufficient to cite considerations about moral responsibility, human agency, or the prerequisites for a society. Bernard Berofsky addresses that metaphysical picture directly. Nature's Challenge to Free Will offers an original defense of Humean Compatibilism. A Humean Compatibilist bases the belief in the compatibility of free will and determinism on David Hume's view that laws do not affirm the existence of necessary connections in nature. Berofsky offers a new formulation of Hume's position, given that, until now, there has been no acceptable version. His conclusion that free will is compatible with determinism is based as well upon a defense of the existence of psychological laws as autonomous relative to physical laws. He rejects appeals to the unalterability of laws (as in the Consequence Argument) on the grounds that this principle fails for psychological laws. Efforts to bypass this result by trying to establish that all laws are reducible to physical laws or that psychological states supervene on physical states are shown to fail. Berofsky concludes that the existence of free will as self-determination together with the power of genuine choice is not threatened even if we live in a deterministic world.

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Page Count

288

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0191629472

ISBN 13

9780191629471

Freedom from Necessity

The Metaphysical Basis of Responsibility

By: Bernard Berofsky

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Freedom from Necessity

The Metaphysical Basis of Responsibility

By: Bernard Berofsky

This book, first published in 1987, is about the classic free will problem, construed in terms of the implications of moral responsibility. The principal thesis is that the core issue is metaphysical: can scientific laws postulate objectively necessary connections between an action and its causal antecedents? The author concludes they cannot, and that, therefore, free will and determinism can be reconciled.

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Page Count

298

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

135178532X

ISBN 13

9781351785327

Determinism

By: Bernard Berofsky

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Determinism

By: Bernard Berofsky

Bernard Berofsky formulates a concept of determinism in terms that will be constructive for the continuing libertarian-determinist debate. His discussion will interest those who want a deeper understanding of this metaphysical doctrine, and anyone whose fundamental concern is with the nature of human responsibility and the possible threats to it posed by determinism. Originally published in 1971. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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Page Count

343

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1400867290

ISBN 13

9781400867295

Nature's Challenge to Free Will

By: Bernard Berofsky

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Nature's Challenge to Free Will

By: Bernard Berofsky

This book offers a defense of humean compatibilism, which bases the belief in the compatibility of free will and determinism on David Hume's idea that laws do not uphold the existence of necessary connections in nature.

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Page Count

289

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199640017

ISBN 13

9780199640010

Liberation from Self

A Theory of Personal Autonomy

By: Bernard Berofsky

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Liberation from Self

A Theory of Personal Autonomy

By: Bernard Berofsky

This is the most detailed, sophisticated and comprehensive treatment of autonomy currently available. Moreover it argues for a quite different conception of autonomy from that found in the philosophical literature. Professor Berofsky claims that the idea of autonomy as origination in the self is a seductive but ultimately illusory one. The only serious way of approaching the subject is to pay due attention to psychology, and to view autonomy as the liberation from the disabling effects of physiological and psychological afflictions.

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288

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521480450

ISBN 13

9780521480451

The Concept of Freedom and the Development of Sartre's Early Political Thought

By: Bernard Merkel

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The Concept of Freedom and the Development of Sartre's Early Political Thought

By: Bernard Merkel

This book, first published in 1987, is a study of the development of Sartre’s political thought from the late 1920s to the liberation of France in 1944, concentrating particularly upon his concept of freedom. It is argued that the evolution of Sartre’s thinking can be regarded as constituting a series of problematics each of which has a corresponding notion of freedom, and these problematics are elucidated in turn.

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296

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

0429656467

ISBN 13

9780429656460

Freedom from Necessity

The Metaphysical Basis of Responsibility

By: Bernard Berofsky

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Freedom from Necessity

The Metaphysical Basis of Responsibility

By: Bernard Berofsky

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298

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Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

135178532X

ISBN 13

9781351785327

The Ethical Implications of Bergson's Philosophy

By: Una Mirrielees Bernard Sait

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The Ethical Implications of Bergson's Philosophy

By: Una Mirrielees Bernard Sait

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

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Page Count

186

Publisher

Franklin Classics Trade Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0353022934

ISBN 13

9780353022935

The Evolution of Principia Mathematica

Bertrand Russell's Manuscripts and Notes for the Second Edition

By: Bernard Linsky

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The Evolution of Principia Mathematica

Bertrand Russell's Manuscripts and Notes for the Second Edition

By: Bernard Linsky

Previously unpublished archival material helps us reassess this famous, but seldom studied, classic that prompted modern logic and computers.

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Page Count

420

Published Date

ISBN 10

1139078356

ISBN 13

9781139078351

Book's by Bernard Berofsky

Nature's Challenge to Free Will

Nature's Challenge to Free Will

Freedom from Necessity

Freedom from Necessity

Determinism

Determinism

Nature's Challenge to Free Will

Nature's Challenge to Free Will

Liberation from Self

Liberation from Self

The Concept of Freedom and the Development of Sartre's Early Political Thought

The Concept of Freedom and the Development of Sartre's Early Political Thought

Freedom from Necessity

Freedom from Necessity

The Ethical Implications of Bergson's Philosophy

The Ethical Implications of Bergson's Philosophy

The Evolution of Principia Mathematica

The Evolution of Principia Mathematica

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