The Nonsense of Free Will: Facing up to a false belief - Softcover

`Most people are completely taken in by the illusion of free will. Happily, Richard Oerton is not among them. The Nonsense of Free Will is a wonderfully clear - and very clever - little book.' -- Sam Harris * author of The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape and Free Will * `There are philosophical, scientific, scholarly, novel, determined, American, pompous, dotty and other books on free will and determinism. There are also a few books that are lucid and informal introductions for ordinary readers and let you know that your free will does not exist. Richard Oerton's may be the best of these.' -- Professor Ted Honderich * Grote Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic, University College London * This book is superbly written and a delight to read. Starting as a clearly reasoned treatment of determinism, it merges seamlessly into a critique of English criminal law and penal policy, and ends with a plea for society to abandon what the author sees as its irrational belief in free will.' -- Joshua Rozenberg * lawyer and legal commentator, formerly legal editor of The Daily Telegraph *

Did Myra Hindley deserve to be punished? Does any criminal? Is belief in free will an essential foundation for morality, or an excuse for unwarranted cruelty? Is free will a myth and, if so, can we let go of it? In this entertaining, accessible but deeply serious book, the author brings a refreshingly original approach to the age-old conflict between free will and determinism and comes down firmly against free will. But what does `free will' mean? And if we rejected it, what would the consequences be? The author, a lawyer who has worked both on law reform at the Law Commission and in private practice, and has written legal and other books and articles, has turned to a subject which has interested him for over half a century. He strongly believes that it does not belong exclusively to philosophers. These questions should be of concern to everyone - and no one who is willing to look at them objectively should be afraid to judge for themselves and reach their own conclusions.