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.
