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Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting (A Bradford Book) Paperback – August 7, 2015

by Daniel C. Dennett (Author)

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A landmark book in the debate over free will that makes the case for compatibilism.

In this landmark 1984 work on free will, Daniel Dennett makes a case for compatibilism. His aim, as he writes in the preface to this new edition, was a cleanup job, “saving everything that mattered about the everyday concept of free will, while jettisoning the impediments.” In Elbow Room, Dennett argues that the varieties of free will worth wanting―those that underwrite moral and artistic responsibility―are not threatened by advances in science but distinguished, explained, and justified in detail.

Dennett tackles the question of free will in a highly original and witty manner, drawing on the theories and concepts of fields that range from physics and evolutionary biology to engineering, automata theory, and artificial intelligence. He shows how the classical formulations of the problem in philosophy depend on misuses of imagination, and he disentangles the philosophical problems of real interest from the “family of anxieties” in which they are often enmeshed―imaginary agents and bogeymen, including the Peremptory Puppeteer, the Nefarious Neurosurgeon, and the Cosmic Child Whose Dolls We Are. Putting sociobiology in its rightful place, he concludes that we can have free will and science too. He explores reason, control and self-control, the meaning of “can” and “could have done otherwise,” responsibility and punishment, and why we would want free will in the first place. A fresh reading of Dennett's book shows how much it can still contribute to current discussions of free will.

This edition includes as its afterword Dennett's 2012 Erasmus Prize essay.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

A spirited and engaging defense of a compatibilist view of free will that has had a significant influence on debates about the topic since its publication thirty years ago. Dennett's characteristically imaginative examples and arguments in this book continue to engage those who agree with his compatibilist position, and to challenge those of us who do not.

―Robert Kane, University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and Professor of Law, The University of Texas at Austin (Endorsement)

True classics are dazzling when they are written and should be dazzling forever. Daniel Dennett's Elbow Room makes the cut as he captures what a thorough analysis of the problem of free will looks like. Bravo!

―Michael S. Gazzaniga, Professor of Psychology and Director of the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind, University of California, Santa Barbara (Endorsement)

Elbow Room remains one of the most impressive and engaging defenses of compatibilism about free will and science―in Dennett's conception, the position that our scientific knowledge does not conflict with the kinds of free will worth wanting. In view of the tendency of recent scientific challenges to free will to dismiss compatibilism, this book is even more timely now than when it first appeared.

―Derk Pereboom, Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philosophy, Cornell University (Endorsement)

About the Author

Daniel C. Dennett is University Professor Codirector of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He is the author of Brainchildren: Essays on Designing Minds; Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness; Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting; Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness (all published by the MIT Press), From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Mind, and other books.

Series: A Bradford Book
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: A Bradford Book; New edition (August 7, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0262527790
ISBN-13: 978-0262527798
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 19 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #771,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #357 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Free Will & Determinism
- #1950 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Modern
- #2131 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Cognitive

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Michael S. Youngblood

Excellent. Danial Dennett is the best at writing for ...

January 24, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Excellent. Danial Dennett is the best at writing for the average person about these complex philosophical issues. I wish he had been my philosophy teacher when I was in college. It would have made more sense to me then had he been explaining things.

6 people found this helpful

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SkepticalMind

Excellent case for Compatibilism

June 14, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Dennett takes an interesting approach to the Free Will problem in this book. He comes out swinging, arguing that we should not think of free will as fundamentally based in an "ability to do otherwise." He then does a great job of showing that meaningful degrees of freedom persist in a deterministic system. I picked up this book in 2014, because a debate between Sam Harris and Dennett had made clear that Dennett's views were largely unchanged since he wrote it. Now that I've read the book, I can say with greater confidence that Harris seems to have the upper hand, even though Dennett makes excellent points. I agree with Dennett that there are other varieties of free will worth wanting (so we can hang on to the concept despite determinism), but I find Harris' common sense approach more compelling. Ultimately, I think what most people care about simply IS the "ability to do otherwise" kind of freedom. Harris is right to focus on the strong implications of our realization that this type of freedom does not exist. Dennett's alternatives are small solace.

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Hernandez.M

Control and Elbow Room

February 6, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

"Elbow Room", to my knowledge, is Dennett's first book on free will and where he lays the foundation for his compatibilist project. There are many things to remark about the book, from his approach to his philosophy, to the comments on the mind which will later be expanded in his "Consciousness Explained." Dennett does a good job laying out what the issue is between free will and determinism and essentially trying to demystify the problem showing that though the traditional theological idea of free will (though he doesn't say this explicitly) may not function well with determinism, free will still does exist in a different manner. He does this by opening up the idea of control and elbow room. From what I understood, our ability to control ourselves given a certain environment is what makes us free, so if we have knowledge of the environment around us, we have acquired some elbow room to act. He creates an analogy where he mentions a pilot flying in a thunderstorm, he can go straight through where the environment gives him very little control or he can go around the storm where he has more room for control. The idea appears to be Spinozistic, though Dennett doesn't referenze Spinoza or explicitly mention knowledge as the key to freedom.

Among the many other things done in this book, Dennett breaks apart the poor reasoning that moves one from Determinism ro Fatalism, which is commending in itself. He also goes into the problem of "ought implies can" and what that actually means, the concept of "I have free will if I could have acted differently", and ideas of luck and fairness.

All in all it is a very good read and Dennett does a good job showing how the compatibilist's position is well reasoned and is particularly hopeful.

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John Carter

Well on the way.

February 7, 2003

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Dennet's approach to free will seems to have two main thrusts. First, Dennet explains, and I think very convincingly, that even in a deterministc world our deliberations matter for the issues we expect and want them to matter to. They are part of the causal fabric and they affect the outcome.
He also starts down an interesting road with regard to what determinism really means and why it might not be so bad. He points out, I think rightly, that the future is unkowable in principle for anyone (except an opmipotent being) because of chaotic effects. This means that in principle (not just in practice) even if we had all the information and knew all the laws of physics we could not predict what will happen, not be able to predict the future. So even though we will tread only one path through life (some day we wand others will be able to look back and see that path) we don't know what it will be. This is a good idea, but as Dennit admits it needs more filling in. The idea is interesting but the implications are still quite unclear to me.
So we have two major threads. First, our deliberations matter (at least for some things and more likely for the things that we expect or want them to matter to) and second, the future is an unknown and therefore contains genuine opportunities. Together these ideas can actually support the seeming contradiction that even in a determined world, we have free will.
I don't agree with everything in the book and there is clearly more filling ut to be done on some of the more inetersting issues, especially the implications of those issues. However, the book is entertaining, thought provoking, and sheds significant light on the issue by cleaing up some bad conceptual muddles. Also, it will be just plain good for your brain. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this question.

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Lee Tae Hee

Five Stars

May 6, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

It’ a good and pleasant experience for me to buy this book from you!

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Chris H

Great intro to compatibilism

January 16, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is an excellent book for anyone looking for a better understanding of the compatibilist position. It's very accessible to the general public, so don't fear biting off more than you can chew. Dennett is always enjoyable to read, and this book is no exception.

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Michael S. Youngblood

Excellent book.

November 21, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Excellent book. Not for the faint of heart but well written and offers what I think is among the best accounts of free will out there. I think it pretty well destroys Sam Harris' argument against free will.

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Mitchell D. Benjamin

Excellent and nuanced book which does a good job of ...

March 7, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Excellent and nuanced book which does a good job of refuting the deterministic view that free will is an illusion. Good to read after reading Sam Harris's "Free Will".

4 people found this helpful

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