Back to all news

February 26, 2019

Christian List on Free Will

The question of whether humans have free will is one that has divided philosophers for centuries, with compelling arguments being made by both sides as to whether we have actual choice over our actions.

Christian List led a discussion with the Isaiah Berlin Society on the question of free will. List, Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at London School of Economics, has recently written a book arguing in favour of free will. He argues that we need to move beyond the physical realm to that of psychology to answer this question since free will is a ‘higher-level’ phenomenon in much the same way of an ecosystem or the economy.

The debate was lively, with physicists present alongside philosophers to bring a cross-disciplinary examination of List’s argument. By the end of the talk, the room remained divided as to whether we have control over our actions. Many thanks to Christian for leading such a stimulating discussion.

Christian’s book can be purchased here:
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674979581

Back to all news