The Question of Free Will

A Holistic View

One of the main philosophical puzzles is the question of free will: what is it? do we have it? how do we know we have it? The Question of Free Will: A Holistic View (Princeton University Press, 1994) by Morton White, Professor Emeritus in the School of Historical Studies, explores these and other questions, and offers a novel defense of the position that we may believe in free will without denying or accepting determinism. In his exploration of these opposing perspectives, White demonstrates how one's view of free choice varies with one's view of a moral excuse. He also shows convincingly why anti-determinism should be rejected in favor of an opposing theory that organizes the relevant data in a simpler way without abandoning beliefs that many of us are reluctant to surrender.