Free Will Book Reviews

AUTHOR
Sam Harris
SCORE
4
TOTAL RATINGS
453

Free Will by Sam Harris Book Summary

From the New York Times bestselling author of The End of Faith, a thought-provoking, "brilliant and witty" (Oliver Sacks) look at the notion of free will—and the implications that it is an illusion.

A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion.

In this enlightening book, Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life.

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Book Name Free Will
Genre Science & Nature
Published
Language English
E-Book Size 6.02 MB

Free Will (Sam Harris) Book Reviews 2024

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Great and quick read—a little too quick.. Sam Harris makes a great argument against our notion of free will and does so precisely and convincingly. As others have pointed out, the book is a little short, and therefore a little pricey. That being said, the content of the book is very much worth reading and contemplating. I heard about Free Will first on the Charlie and Ben Podcast, where Ben mentioned that he didn’t want to agree with Sam’s argument that free will is an illusion, but that he couldn’t find a convincing reason to disagree with him either. I think this romanticized notion that most of us do believe in, does begin to crack and fade once you allow yourself to question it. Sam does a great job helping you doing so. He also addresses questions that naturally arise such as “if there is no free will, then what about personal responsibility?” and so forth.

Powerful. To the point and well-informed.

An okay guide to no free will. I have been arguing against free will for years now and have participated in many debates on the subject. When I heard Sam was releasing a book on the subject arguing against us having free will I was excited. Well, the book is just okay, not exceptional. Sam goes over some common topics that have to do with free will and why we don't have it but never goes in depth enough. It is a good but short beginners guide to why we don't have free will. People new to the subject might find it refreshing. But vet free will deniers like myself will find it lacking in detail and thoroughness. I think a thorough breakdown of "self" should have been examined to show how "I" am a product of the environment. Self must be defined and understood to understand why we don't have free will. While there is a chapter on cause and effect, the causality topic should have been a bigger part of this book to better demonstrate how deterministic nature is and how it makes it possible for us to make any meaningful predictions at all. If this was thoroughly examined it would show how there is no room for free will in our universe governed by the laws of physics and causality. Direct and indirect chain of events should have been examined. There are many other topics to cover that I will keep to myself for now and just release in my own book. There are few books on no free will, so I appreciate this effort and it will be an ok introduction to some people.

Borrowed from Skinner. Skinner's book "Beyond Freedom & Dignity" is far more comprehensive, based on the science of behavior, and about half a century sooner. Much of what Harris has to say is rooted in behaviorism. Curious readers ought to check out Skinner's works. Behaviorism is not dead.

Feels More Like An Essay. I finished the book in about 3 hours, maybe a little longer. It would be reasonable to lower the price considering how short it is. Nonetheless, great read. Sam Harris makes a strong argument against the notion of free will. Not only that, he explains how understanding that free will is an illusion could significantly change our paradigm on how we view human actions.

Loved it!. Sam is one of the few authors who I can't get enough of.

Very poor. The book is a total waste of time and money. The author is far from understanding the subject himself. Thinks like a child. In my view, the author does not posses the mental capacity to understand the deeply complex and intertwined issues of free will. Tomer

Verbose and overpriced and surprisingly too short at the same time. Should be a $2.99 read

Poor Sample. If you are going to give us a samples ease make more than 2-3 pages.......

Satisfied. I haven’t legit read since my senior year of highschool, I know I’m barely a sophomore in college but this is a friggin banger.

I would rate this 0 stars, but Apple won't let me….. Seriously, if you do not have free will, then please do us all a favour and shove your iPad up your arse, to demonstrate how there is no free will.

Thought provoking !. No matter where you are in the discussion on free will, this book is excellent! I highly recommend that you read it.

So close...yet so far away.... Mr. Harris, you need to pick up John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards some time. The biggest problem I see with your argument is that there is no conclusion... One main premise, we exist in a predetermined reality that pushes us through life, right down to the mundane choices of which type of cheese I end up with on my predetermined type of sandwich... Therefore??? I don't know if you realize this but atheism makes absolutely no sense in this reality. Your argument, apparently unknowingly to you, presupposes a determiner...I.e. higher power/motivating force. Given the reality that I experience, beautiful sights, feelings, pleasurable experiences, love, as well as tragedy...this deterministic agent has to be one that possesses intelligence and knows these feelings and experiences intimately... I know you will obviously disagree. My aim is not to change you're mind...my aim is simply to thank you for inadvertently supporting Christianity as Jesus taught it... Lenmanout!

Is there a free lunch?. In yet another great read by Dr. Harris, you will choose not to read it by finishing it and blaming your parents for your siblings.

Ok. Content was good the price for length was not

Intriguing Book. I don’t agree with everything the author says, but I happen to agree on several crucial points: “you” are billions or trillions of cells; “you” had no say in what sex (XX or XY-), what country, which parents, etc. you were born in; “you” have no control over the flow of time; and “you” cannot see behind yourself or your own expressions in your face.

Where's The Beef?. Very disappointing. Few scientific studies mentioned. And SH has a PhD in neuroscience? It certainly is not evident. Not interested in page after page of SH's "ranting" as another reviewer stated. This is not a respectable scientifically based analysis, just hard to follow stories that could have been summarized in one chapter instead of such a painful reading. Not even any mention of the current Templeton Foundation sponsored study on free will. I know it hasn't been completed but this is a huge grant. No mention at all?

No free will. I had no choice but give five stars to Sam. I love everything that he writes.

Flawed but worth reading (listening). "Free will", authored by Sam Harris, is about persuading the reader, through factual analysis and reasoned argument, that free will doesn't exist. It is not even a coherent concept, Harris contends. The significance of the concept of free will and it's lack of existence, is enormous. The concept determines our collective view of morality, the nature of our justice system as well as one's sense of self-worth. Free will is the belief that we are the conscious creators of our thoughts and that we can choose from a range of possible alternatives at any given moment of conscious awareness. Harris succeeds in putting these illusions to an end, in my mind. He also suceeds, in my opinion, in demonstrating that we don't need to believe in free will personally or collectively to live a good life. It is not a necessary illusion. Free Will is well written. It is short, to the point and easily digestible. The only problem is Harris's muddled thinking in places. He suggests that we can have no conscious awareness of our motives for any given behavior we commence. I think he is mistaken. Our motivations are not always completely unconscious and we don't always confabulate at the conscious level. Harris also fails to understand compatibilism and his refutation of compatibilism falls flat as a consequence. The point is, we are no more constrained than we are free, as conscious creatures.

Great read!. This book was a great read. I would recommend it to anyone. It is also an extremely quick read. It can be read in about two hours and it will leave the reader with something to think about.

Free will vs determinism worthy of more. The book was very short for such a complex topic.

Excellent book. I've never written a book review before. Why am I doing it now, when I've never cared to review anything before? I probably didn't have a choice.

There is beauty in brevity. A quick and easy read that gets straight to the point. Humans are incredibly influence by the subconscious. I'd recommend this to anyone.

Awesome. I haven't even finished the book, but probably don't need to since I agree with the author on every point. I do regret the causal chain of events however, that led me to buy a book that I could have written myself, if I were the author. :-/

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Not great. Not great

Changed my life. Short and powerful. It's incredibly counter intuitive and even psychologically unnerving to drop the sense of the "I" behind the eyes. Once realised, it's like the blind spot. It's a subjective truth about your own experience, and things will never be the same again!

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Mind blowing. Truly amazing but yet so obviously true. This world is a much better place with you in it Sam. Thank you

TW22. In this succinct essay Harris once again employs science and logic, arguing that Free Will is an illusion. This book will leave you momentarily confounded before changing your outlook of the world.

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Summary of Free Will by Sam Harris

The Free Will book written by Sam Harris was published on 06 March 2012, Tuesday in the Science & Nature category. A total of 453 readers of the book gave the book 4 points out of 5.

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