
Saul Smilansky Presents An Original Treatment Of The Problem Of Free Will, Which Lies At The Heart Of Morality And Human Self-understanding. He Maintains That We Have Most Of The Resources We Need For A Proper Understanding Of The Problem; And The Key To It Is The Role Played By Illusion. The Major Traditional Philosophical Approaches Are Inadequate, Smilansky Argues: Their Partial Insights Need To Be Integrated Into A Hybrid View, Which He Calls Fundamental Dualism. Common Views About Justice, Responsibility, Human Worth, And Related Notions Are Radically Misguided, And The Absurd Looms Large. We Do, However, Find Some Justification For Enlightened Moral Views, And Grounding For Some Of Our Most Cherished Views Of Human Nature. The Bold And Perhaps Disturbing Claim Of Free Will And Illusion Is That We Could Not Live Adequately With A Complete Awareness Of The Truth About Human Freedom: Illusion Lies At The Centre Of The Human Condition. The Necessity Of Illusion Is Seen To Follow From The Basic Elements Of The Free Will Issue, Helping Keep Our Moral And Psychological Worlds Intact. Smilansky Offers The Challenge Of Recognizing The Centrality Of Illusion And Trying To Free Ourselves To Some Extent From It; This Is Not Only A Philosophical Challenge, But A Moral And Psychological One As Well.
Does the human capacity for morality and self-understanding depend fundamentally upon the maintenance of necessary illusions regarding free will? Saul Smilansky, a professor of philosophy, argues that traditional libertarian and determinist frameworks fail to capture the complexity of human agency. He proposes a hybrid theory termed 'Fundamental Dualism,' suggesting that while objective truth may negate traditional notions of responsibility, human society requires specific illusions to sustain moral and psychological stability.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Philosophers and academics frequently cite this work as a provocative contribution to the free will debate due to its counter-intuitive stance on the utility of illusion. Readers often note the high level of philosophical rigor and the challenging nature of the author's conclusions regarding the human condition.
Page Count:
346
Publication Date:
2000-01-01
Publisher:
Oup Oxford
ISBN-10:
019158813X
ISBN-13:
9780191588136
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