Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting 0th Edition

by Daniel C. Dennett (Author)

19 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0262540421

ISBN-10: 0262540428

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Anyone who has wondered if free will is just an illusion or has asked 'could I have chosen otherwise?' after performing some rash deed will find this book an absorbing discussion of an endlessly fascinating subject. Daniel Dennett, whose previous books include Brainstorms and (with Douglas Hofstadter) The Mind's I, tackles the free will problem in a highly original and witty manner, drawing on the theories and concepts of several fields usually ignored by philosophers; not just physics and evolutionary biology, but engineering, automata theory, and artificial intelligence.

In Elbow Room, Dennett 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' they get enmeshed in - imaginary agents, bogeymen, and dire prospects that seem to threaten our freedom. Putting sociobiology in its rightful place, he concludes that we can have free will and science too. Elbow Room begins by showing how we can be "moved by reasons" without being exempt from physical causation. It goes on to analyze concepts of control and self-control-concepts often skimped by philosophers but which are central to the questions of free will and determinism. A chapter on "self-made selves" discusses the idea of self or agent to see how it can be kept from disappearing under the onslaught of science. Dennett then sees what can be made of the notion of acting under the idea of freedomdoes the elbow room we think we have really exist? What is an opportunity, and how can anything in our futures be "up to us"? He investigates the meaning of "can" and "could have done otherwise," and asks why we want free will in the first place.We are wise, Dennett notes, to want free will, but that in itself raises a host of questions about responsibility. In a final chapter, he takes up the problem of how anyone can ever be guilty, and what the rationale is for holding people responsible and even, on occasion, punishing them.

Elbow Room is an expanded version of the John Locke Lectures which Dennett gave at Oxford University in 1983.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Once again Daniel Dennett has made a stunning contribution to our achieving a monist physicalism which is compatible with human experiences. Just as his funtional mind-brain identity theory enable us to avoid positing 'grandmother neurons', so his new analysis enables psychologist to understand the competitive advantage of those species that believe they have free will and the stupidity of teaching introductory psychology students that they have none. A readable, light hearted book on a very serious subject. While philosphy citations outnumber those to psychology about two to one, Dennett is both well read and subtley competent in psychology, and the book will be enjoyed by intellecutal psychology students fully as much as by philosophy majors.

―Donald T. Campbell, University Professor of Social Relations & Psychology, Past President, American Psychological Association

I have always enjoyed the energetic and often unexpected provocation of Daniel Dennett's mind. In these powerful and no doubt controversial lectures, he gives elbow room for fresh thought as well as free will. Anyone who reads them carefully will be delighted by the unexpected views which Daniel Dennett provides.

―Jonathan Miller, Lever Hulme Research Fellow in Cognitive Science, University of Sussex

Daniel Dennett throws light into the darkness of ourselves by asking whether we are free to control our actions. I am glad I was free to choose to read this book.

―Professor Richard L. Gregory, Director, Brain and Perception Labratory, University of Bristol, England

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: The MIT Press (November 21, 1984)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0262540428
ISBN-13: 978-0262540421
Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.5 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
Average Customer Review: 19 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,372,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1329 in Cognitive Psychology (Books)
- #629 in Free Will & Determinism Philosophy
- #2822 in History of Philosophy

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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.

6 people found this helpful

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Michael S. Youngblood

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

January 24, 2016

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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.

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Hernandez.M

Control and Elbow Room

February 6, 2013

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"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.

5 people found this helpful

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John Carter

Well on the way.

February 7, 2003

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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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Chris H

Great intro to compatibilism

January 16, 2015

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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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Lee Tae Hee

Five Stars

May 6, 2018

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

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Michael S. Youngblood

Excellent book.

November 21, 2014

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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".

6 people found this helpful

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Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting 0th Edition

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