Free Will Matters

Myrto Mylopolous

Myrto is an Associate Professor in Philosophy and Cognitive Science at Carleton University in Canada. She works on a number of topics, including the relation between agency and consciousness, skills and intentions and motor representations. Her work has appeared in prestigious philosophy and cognitive science journals, including Philosophical Studies, Minded Language and Trends in Cognitive Science.

Michael Inzlicht. 

Michael is research excellence faculty scholar at the University of Toronto, with appointments in the Department of Psychology and in the Rotman School of Management. He's published more than 100 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and he's edited two books. His work has been featured in media outlets around the world, including The New York Times, The Globe Mail, BBC News Time, The Daily Telegraph and the CBC, among many others. Michael is also co-host of the world famous podcast, Two Psychologists and Four beers.

Michael Bratman. 

Michael is Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University, where he is also the U. G. and Abbie Birch Durfee Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences. He's the author of seven books, including the forthcoming Shared and Institutional Agency: Toward a Planning Theory of Human Organization. Michael has received many, many, many awards and recognitions for his scholarship over the years. Among these, he's a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Luca Ferrero. 

Luca is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California at Riverside. He's published extensively in the Philosophy of Action and Meta-Ethics, and he's the editor of the forthcoming Routledge Handbook for the Philosophy of Agency.

Kevin Timpe. 

Kevin is the William H. Jellema Chair of Christian Philosophy at Calvin College. He's the author and editor of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven books, including Free Will: Sourcehood and its Alternatives, Arguing about Religion, Free Will and Theism, Virtues and Vices, among others. His most recent book, Disability and Inclusive Communities, is now available in better bookstores everywhere. In addition to being an extraordinarily productive philosopher, Kevin is also a disability inclusiveness advocate, and he's got a remarkable record of service to this community.

Jennifer Morton. 

Jennifer is Presidential Penn Compact Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. She's a senior fellow at the Center for Ethics and Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her book, Moving Up Without Losing Your Way: The Ethical Costs of Upward Mobility, has been awarded the Frederick W. Ness Book Award by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and was selected as Princeton President Eisgruber's pre-read for the Class of 2025. In addition to education, Jennifer has written about self-control, grit and is interested in the multiple ways in which economic and social deprivation affects and shapes people's agency.

Alfred Mele. 

Al is the William H. And Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University. He's the author of a dozen books including Irrationality, Springs of Action, Motivation and Agency and Manipulated Agents: A Window Into Moral Responsibility, as well as over 150 articles. His work addresses central issues about human agency self-control, self-deception and free will. Welcome, Al!

We tend to think of ourselves as not just passive creatures at the mercy of the world, but as active as agents who can at least sometimes direct our own lives. This idea, the idea of our agency, is both intriguing and far reaching. To open today's episode, we've asked our guests to give us a brief characterization of how they define human agency. We've also asked them to tell us why thinking about our agency matters and what common misconceptions there are about our agency.

Derk Pereboom

Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University. His research is primarily on free will and moral responsibility and in philosophy of mind. He also works in early modern philosophy, especially on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and in philosophy of religion. Derk is the author of Free Will, Agency, and Meaning in Life (OUP) and his work has been published in Philosophical Studies, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, and , Midwest Studies in Philosophy, among other venues.

Kevin Timpe

Kevin Timpe is the William H. Jellema Chair in Christian Philosophy at Calvin College. His primary research interests range across the metaphysics of free will, philosophy of disability, virtue theory, and philosophical theology. Kevin is an editor of the Routledge Companion to Free Will and his work has been appeared in Philosophy Compass, Res Philosophica, Modern Schoolman, and elsewhere. He is also the author of Disability and Inclusive Community (Calvin Press).