Is that Freedom Rock? Well then, turn it up!

I suspect that most readers of this blog already know about the huge amount of interesting work that has been done on free will in recent year. But, which articles or books do you think of as the classics of the Contemporary Free Will Era ? I think it is hard to make accurate assessments about membership in the lofty pantheon of Contemporary Philosophical Classics™ for anything written too recently. And, like the ads for AM/PM mini-marts say, there’s too much good stuff. Still, what do you think of as the most philosophically significant pieces of the decades since 1960s?

Because three is a nice round number (if you aren’t using Roman numerals), I’m decreeing that nominations shall be limited to three per entry, per decade. Entries with more than three nominations will be null and void. Odds of winning are subject to the number of contestants and limited by the laws in your state.

Here are my initial thoughts, though I can probably be talked into a different group on a different day.

1960s
1. Strawson “Freedom and Resentment”
2. Frankfurt “Alternative Possibilities” (just squeaking into the 60s, with a Dec. 4, 1969 publication date)
3. Smart “Free Will, Praise and Blame” (of course, given that this is my list!)

1970s
1. Frankfurt “Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person”
2. van Inwagen “The Incompatibility of Free Will and Determinism” (Because everyone has to deal with its consequences, ha ha. Okay, sorry for the bad philosophy humor.)
3. Nagel “Moral Luck” (okay, so maybe this is a bit controversial as a choice, but it spawned a lot of hand-wringing in various places, which can’t be underestimated)

I’m leaving out a lot of really great, even essential stuff. For example, Gary Watson’s “Free Agency” and David Wiggins’ “Towards a Reasonable Libertarianism” are important pieces from the 1970s that everyone should read, and Chisolm’s “Human Freedom and the Self” from the 1960s is obviously a classic, too. But three it is.

I don’t have as strong views about the 1980s or 1990s. Or rather, I have strong views but I can’t wedge them into a list of only three per decade. So playing by my own rules, I am staying silent about those decades, though I assure you that your work is on my list.

Comments

[John Fischer]

I would replace Smart on Manuel's list of the top three articles of the 1960's with:
3. Nelson Pike, "Divine Omniscience and Voluntary Action."

I would replace Nagel's "Moral Luck" with:
3. Gary Watson, "Free Agency." Although Nagel's piece is of course a classic, it is less centrally about free will and moral responsibility. Gary Watson's piece marks him as the "Father of the Revolution"--the "normative" approach to freedom and moral responsibility. I have the greatest admiration for Watson's piece, although I think some of the foot-soldiers in the "revolution" have got things wrong.

[John Fischer]

Another favorite of mine from the 60's, an oldie but definitely a goodie:
Carl Ginet, "Might We Have No Choice?".
Ginet's work was an important influence on Van Inwagen (as Peter has stated). In addition to being a real pioneer in our field (and epistemology as well), Carl is a very fine person. He was my dissertation supervisor, and he has always been an inspiration to me.