Our self-conception derives mostly from our own experience. We
believe ourselves to be conscious, rational, social, ethical,
language-using, political agents who possess free will. Yet we know
we exist in a universe that consists of mindless, meaningless,
unfree, nonrational, brute physical particles. How can we resolve
the conflict between these two visions?
In "Freedom and Neurobiology," the philosopher John Searle
discusses the possibility of free will within the context of
contemporary neurobiology. He begins by explaining the relationship
between human reality and the more fundamental reality as described
by physics and chemistry. Then he proposes a neurobiological
resolution to the problem by demonstrating how various conceptions
of free will have different consequences for the neurobiology of
consciousness.
In the second half of the book, Searle applies his theory of
social reality to the problem of political power, explaining the
role of language in the formation of our political reality. The
institutional structures that organize, empower, and regulate our
lives-money, property, marriage, government-consist in the
assignment and collective acceptance of certain statuses to objects
and people. Whether it is the president of the United States, a
twenty-dollar bill, or private property, these entities perform
functions as determined by their status in our institutional
reality. Searle focuses on the political powers that exist within
these systems of status functions and the way in which language
constitutes them.
Searle argues that consciousness and rationality are crucial to
our existence and that they are the result of the biological
evolution of our species. He addresses the problem of free will
within the context of a neurobiological conception of consciousness
and rationality, and he addresses the problem of political power
within the context of this analysis.
A clear and concise contribution to the free-will debate and the
study of cognition, "Freedom and Neurobiology" is essential reading
for students and scholars of the philosophy of mind.
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