Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will
Robert M. Sapolsky (Penguin Press, $48, 511 pages)
Robert M. Sapolsky is a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford and the author of the bestselling Behave. In Determined he delves into the scientific case against free will by explaining both the science of the brain and the epigenetic influences on how the brain operates. Sapolsky explains well the functioning of neurotransmitters and genes so that even those without a thorough understanding of the science should be able to follow along. Without doubt science explains how the brain works but Sapolsky is impatient with any suggestion that the natural mechanisms occurring in the brain are anything but the sole explanation for the decisions we make. There is no engagement with so-called “compatibilists” who think that free will can co-exist with a theory that the mechanisms of the brain will influence decisions people make. He states, “The intent you form, the person you are, is the result of all the interactions between biology and environment that came before. All things out of your control.” This stridency has ramifications not only for his ability to persuade readers that free will does not exist but also leads to some concerning conclusions, which Sapolsky gladly admits: “there can be no such thing as blame, and that punishment as retribution is indefensible.” There should be little doubt that unconscious and mechanistic occurrences in the brain can affect the decisions we make, but the evisceration of free will by a purely deterministic model of our decisions would turn our society upside down with no good or evil.
