Free will explored. Laurie Taylor talks to Julian Baggini about his latest work which considers the concept of freedom. He argues against the idea that free will is an illusion due to a combination of genes, environment and personal history. Instead he posits a sliding scale of freedom which allows for the possibility of individual agency and responsibility.
ReadThose who despair of free will only do so because they have an unrealistic idea of what it involves. They have a fantasy of a mysterious, pure, free-floating will that acts independently of nature or nurture. They think that the only kind of real responsibility is ultimate responsibility, and that unless we can choose everything from our genders to our personalities to our preferences, we cannot be responsible for what we do.
ReadWe are famously a nation of animal lovers. And yet our love for animals appears to stop at our pets’ feeding bowls. Interest in free-range meats for humans is growing, but the only animal welfare that seems to count when buying pet foods is that of the beast being fed. Scan the shelves of the pet-food aisle and you’ll struggle to see anything carrying an assurance of higher livestock welfare, such as an RSPCA Freedom Food label or organic certification.
ReadIf we don’t have the backbone to resist taking the opportunity to tell a little lie on an insurance claim or to keep a mistaken overpayment, how can we expect to be ready to refuse greater temptations?
ReadWhen people claim that “mindfulness works”, they can mean different things. There are claims that it promotes psychological flexibility, awareness, resilience, better decision-making, job performance, reduced absence rates and the ability to learn new tasks. No wonder businesses are interested.
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