Free Will Historical and Analytic Perspectives

This novel contributed volume advances the current debate on free will by bridging the divide between analytic and historically oriented approaches to the problem. With thirteen chapters by leading academics in the field, the volume is divided into three parts: free will and determinism, free will and indeterminism, and free will and moral responsibility. The contributors aim to initiate a philosophical discourse that profits from a combination of the two approaches. On the one hand, the analytic tools familiar from the debate – arguments, concepts, and distinctions – can be used to sharpen our understanding of classical philosophical positions. On the other hand, the rich philosophical tradition can be reconstructed so as to inspire new solutions.

Marco Hausmann is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Munich, Germany. He is the author of the papers ‘The Consequence Argument Ungrounded’ (Synthese, 2018), ‘Against Kripke’s Solution to the Problem of Negative Existentials’ (Analysis, 2019) and ‘The Consequence of the Consequence Argument' (Kriterion, forthcoming). His research interests include metaphysics, logic, and the philosophy of language, freedom and religion.

Jörg Noller is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Munich, Germany. He is the author and editor of a number of books and articles on freedom from a historical and systematic perspective, including ‘Die Bestimmung des Willens’ (Alber, 2020), ‘Kant and Reinhold’s Dilemma' (European Journal of Philosophy, 2019), and ‘Schiller on Freedom of the Will’ (European Journal of Philosophy, 2020). His research interests include metaphysics, freedom, personhood, and German Idealism.