Hard Luck is important and challenging. Some of the arguments it directs at varieties of compatibilism, especially those concerning control, should generate much useful discussion. And Levy brings empirical research to bear fruitfully on issues like the effects of unconscious attitudes.

Steven Sverdlik, Mind

[an] impressively wide-ranging book ... a no-frills and honest engagement with the issues by a creative philosopher, and it deserves to be read.

Neal A. Tognazzini, Australasian Journal of Philosophy

All in all, Hard Luck is good philosophy: informed, clear and controversial.

Brian Jonathan Garrett, Philosophy in Review, (2013), no. 3

The concept of luck has played an important role in debates concerning free will and moral responsibility, yet participants in these debates have relied upon an intuitive notion of what luck is. Neil Levy develops an account of luck, which is then applied to the free will debate. He argues that the standard luck objection succeeds against common accounts of libertarian free will, but that it is possible to amend libertarian accounts so that they are no more vulnerable to luck than is compatibilism. But compatibilist accounts of luck are themselves vulnerable to a powerful luck objection: historical compatibilisms cannot satisfactorily explain how agents can take responsibility for their constitutive luck; non-historical compatibilisms run into insurmountable difficulties with the epistemic condition on control over action. Levy argues that because epistemic conditions on control are so demanding that they are rarely satisfied, agents are not blameworthy for performing actions that they take to be best in a given situation. It follows that if there are any actions for which agents are responsible, they are akratic actions; but even these are unacceptably subject to luck. Levy goes on to discuss recent non-historical compatibilisms, and argues that they do not offer a viable alternative to control-based compatibilisms. He suggests that luck undermines our freedom and moral responsibility no matter whether determinism is true or not.
Les mer
The concept of luck plays an important role in debates concerning free will and moral responsibility. It may seem that if our actions are not determined, they are too luck-based to be free. Neil Levy presents an original account of luck and argues that it undermines our freedom and moral responsibility no matter whether determinism is true or not.
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Preface and Acknowledgements ; 1. Introduction ; 2. An Account of Luck ; 3. Luck and Libertarianism ; 4. The Luck Problem for Compatibilists ; 5. The Epistemic Dimensions of Control ; 6. Akratic Freedom? ; 7. The Retreat to the Inner Citadel ; 8. Quality Of Will Theories And History-Insensitive Compatibilism ; Bibliography ; Index
Les mer
Presents an original, philosophical approach to the role of luck in our lives Engages with key issues that animate the free will debate today Provides detailed analysis of a broad range of theories and approaches Essential reading for anyone interested in freedom and moral responsibility
Les mer
Neil Levy is Head of Neuroethics at the Florey Neuroscience Institutes and Director of Research at the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics. He is the author of five previous books and many articles, on a wide range of topics including applied ethics, free will and moral responsibility, philosophical psychology, and philosophy of mind. He divides his time between Melbourne, Australia, and Oxford, England.
Les mer
Presents an original, philosophical approach to the role of luck in our lives Engages with key issues that animate the free will debate today Provides detailed analysis of a broad range of theories and approaches Essential reading for anyone interested in freedom and moral responsibility
Les mer

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780199601387
Publisert
2011
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxford University Press
Vekt
436 gr
Høyde
218 mm
Bredde
139 mm
Dybde
20 mm
Aldersnivå
UU, UP, P, 05, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
238

Forfatter

Om bidragsyterne

Neil Levy is Head of Neuroethics at the Florey Neuroscience Institutes and Director of Research at the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics. He is the author of five previous books and many articles, on a wide range of topics including applied ethics, free will and moral responsibility, philosophical psychology, and philosophy of mind. He divides his time between Melbourne, Australia, and Oxford, England.