Table of Contents

1.: Introduction
I. The Ascent Problem:Compatibility and Significance
2.: Will
3.: Responsibility
4.: Alternative Possibilities
5.: Ultimate Responsibility
6.: Significance
II. The Descent Problem: Intelligibility and Existence
7.: Plurality and Indeterminism
8.: Moral and Prudential Choice
9.: Efforts, Purposes, and Practical Reason
10.: Objections and Responses
11.: Conclusion
Notes
References
Index

Reviews

"Provides the most fully articulated, the most comprehensive, and the best case for libertarianism that has ever been devised."--Richard Double, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
"A magisterial work [that] culminates twenty-five years of thinking about the problems of free will. For those who believe both that robust free will cannot survive in a deterministic climate and that a viable free will need be scientifically respectable, Kane's work may prove salvific."--Mark Bernstein, University of Texas at San Antonio
"For more than a decade Robert Kane has vigorously defended libertarian free will in prose and print. Significance represents his definitive statement and it is a truly splendid book. Remarkably well organized and original, Significance requires rethinking standard convictions in the freedom/determinism debate about explanation, causation, responsibility, and worth. It's a must read for philosophers, psychologists, and cognitive
scientists."--George Graham, University of Alabama at Birmingham
"This is, quite simply, the most thoughtful and detailed defense of libertarianism currently available." --Alfred R. Mele, Davidson College
",,,complex and carefully argued..."--Times Literary Supplement
"...one cannot help but admire the various methodological strengths of his approach, including especially the ability to see and elucidate a simple, yet powerful analytical structure on which to hang all of the intricate twists and turns of the fabric of the debate."--Reason Papers
"Its coverage of the free-will issues debated in the philosophical literature of the last twenty years or so is penetrating, instructive, and by far the most thorough I've seen....it is written in an accessible and engaging style....It is altogether a very appealing and useful book....guaranteed to be of keen interest to anyone hooked on the free will problem."--The Philosophical Review
"This book is certainly on the cutting edge, and it is already shaping the current debate on free will. . . . Ideal for use in courses on the topic, including undergraduate courses. . . . The book's first chapter masterfully motivates the free will issue, and, througout, Kane offers superb critical review both of traditional work on free will and of the recent literature."--Alfred Mele, Journal of Philosophy
"As a presentation of libertarian [free will], Kane's book is unrivalled. He has many original insights, has mastered an enourmous literature, and marshalls his arguments with consistent acumen. . . . Should be studied by anyone interested in the theory of action and the metaphysics of freedom."--N. M. L. Nathan, Mind
"Will help to shape the course of research on [free will]--especially on libertarianism--for years to come. . . . A significant achievement."--John Martin Fischer, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
"The best defense of libertarian free will ever written. Indeed, in the first rank of books written on the topic of free will."--Mark Bernstein, Southwest Philosophy Review
"Provides the most fully articulated, the most comprehensive, and the best case for libertarianism that has ever been devised."--Richard Double, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
"A magisterial work [that] culminates twenty-five years of thinking about the problems of free will. For those who believe both that robust free will cannot survive in a deterministic climate and that a viable free will need be scientifically respectable, Kane's work may prove salvific."--Mark Bernstein, University of Texas at San Antonio
"For more than a decade Robert Kane has vigorously defended libertarian free will in prose and print. Significance represents his definitive statement and it is a truly splendid book. Remarkably well organized and original, Significance requires rethinking standard convictions in the freedom/determinism debate about explanation, causation, responsibility, and worth. It's a must read for philosophers, psychologists, and cognitive
scientists."--George Graham, University of Alabama at Birmingham
"This is, quite simply, the most thoughtful and detailed defense of libertarianism currently available." --Alfred R. Mele, Davidson College
",,,complex and carefully argued..."--Times Literary Supplement
"...a very impressive accomplishment indeed....surely among the most comprehensive and detailed studies of the free-will issue to date, together with a very sophisticated, yet clear and sustained argument for his own version of incompatibilism."--International Philosophical Quarterly
"This study is a careful and logical analysis of the concept 'free will'....It is a helpful summary of the debate of the last 25 years on free will....the book is a significant advancement."--The Review of Metaphysics