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DISCOVER ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ACCOUNTS OF SLAVERY IN
NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICA One of history's greatest crimes, the
American slave trade led to the suffering of untold numbers of men
and women. But how can we better understand the lives and
experiences of those who endured it? Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass is a harrowing first hand look at the brutal
indignities of slavery in the nineteenth century, and the society
that allowed it to happen. To better understand our shared present,
we need to fully grapple with our difficult past. Douglass'
Narrative is a key piece of that puzzle. An insightful introduction
by Debra Newman Ham, a former Black history archivist for the
Library of Congress, analyzes the text and looks at the key events
in Douglass' life.
The subject of this book is the controversy-one of the oldest in
philosophy-about whether it is possible to have freedom in the face
of universal causal determinism. Of course, it is crucial to
consider what such freedom might mean-in particular, there is an
important distinction between libertarian "free will" and the more
naturalistic view of freedom taken by compatibilists. This book
provides background for laypersons through a historical survey of
earlier views and some discussion and criticism of various
contemporary views. In particular, it states and discusses the
Consequence Argument, the most important argument challenging human
freedom in recent literature. The main feature of the book is the
argument for a solution: one that is within the compatibilist
tradition, is naturalistic and in accord with findings of science
and principles of engineering control theory. Some particular
features of the offered solution include an argument for a close
tie between freedom and control-where what is meant is the
voluntary motion control of our bodies, and this "control" is
understood naturalistically, by which the author means in
accordance with concepts of engineering control theory and modern
science. Such concepts are used to explain and demarcate the
concept of "control" being used. Then it develops a working
conception of what rationality is (since what is crucial is freedom
in choice, and rationality is crucial to that), by reviewing texts
on the subject by three expert authors (namely, Nathanson, Nozick,
and Searle). It is argued that rationality is a species of
biological learning control that involves deliberation; and that
our freedom in choice is greatest when our choices are most
rational.
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