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Free Will Audiobook
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(3.00) - 5 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
A BELIEF IN FREE WILL touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion.
In this enlightening book, Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life.
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"A very satisfying intro to the topic of Free Will. I'd already been partial to Harris's stance on this issue, and my first listen really solidified that feel. It's short, which I like, but I could see how that might turn some people off if they don't follow the points Harris makes throughout."
— David B (4 out of 5 stars)
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“In this elegant and provocative book, Sam Harris demonstrates—with great intellectual ferocity and panache—that free will is an inherently flawed and incoherent concept, even in subjective terms. If he is right, the book will radically change the way we view ourselves as human beings.”
— V. S. Ramachandran, director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, UCSD, and author of The Tell-Tale Brain -
“Brilliant and witty—and never less than incisive—Free Will shows that Sam Harris can say more in 13,000 words than most people do in 100,000.”
— Oliver Sacks, neurologist and New York Times bestselling author -
“Many say that believing that there is no free will is impossible—or, if possible, will cause nihilism and despair. In this feisty and personal essay, Harris offers himself as an example of a heart made less self-absorbed, and more morally sensitive and creative, because this particular wicked witch is dead.”
— Owen Flanagan, professor of philosophy, Duke University, and author of The Really Hard Problem -
“If you believe in free will, or know someone who does, here is the perfect antidote. In this smart, engaging, and extremely readable little book, Sam Harris argues that free will doesn’t exist, that we’re better off knowing that it doesn’t exist, and that—once we think about it in the right way—we can appreciate from our own experience that it doesn’t exist. This is a delightful discussion by one of the sharpest scholars around.”
— Paul Bloom, professor of psychology, Yale University, and author of How Pleasure Works
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
Free Will Listener Reviews
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" i love sam harris. i'm not a neuroscientist, neurophysicist or neuro anything so this is simply my uneducated opinion. i've read much of sam's work and this one seems to connect some dots that are really spread out. i get the overall concept of his idea and i can easily agree with it. what i feel is missing from the book is how we get from the authorship of thought to the ownership of thought. at some point we all become responsible in some way for our actions, according to current societal systems. i don't get the connection here. maybe he's trying to support his main idea by removing responsibility and accountability for the actions of individuals but IMO, much is left out about the transition from thought authorship to the subsequent actions taken. still love his logic and reasoning. "
— rusty, 4/25/2023 -
" For a scientist, the author's view was surely WIDE OPEN to subjective theorizing and VERY NARROW on the science. Biology and the brain was oversimplified: What about neuroplasticity? What about the limbic system? What about that narrow/biased view of quantum mechanics? What about the association areas of the brain? There was a gross misuse of 'genetic predisposition' versus 'genetic expression' but never described this in the writing. A very biased viewpoint; which would have been great if the author looked at different angles. Disappointed in the book. "
— richard, 2/19/2018 -
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David Borja, 7/9/2013
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Brian Basler, 4/13/2013
About Sam Harris
Sam Harris is the author of the bestsellers The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, and Lying. The End of Faith won a 2005 PEN Award for nonfiction, and his writing has been published in over fifteen languages. Harris’ work has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the Atlantic, and Newsweek, among others. He is cofounder and CEO of Project Reason, a nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge in society. He received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA.