-
Free Will
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 1 hr and 14 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $7.46
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Waking Up
- A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From multiple New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, and "new atheist" Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history could not have all been epileptics, schizophrenics, or frauds.
-
-
I don't completely agree. BUT THAT SAID...
- By World Peace on 09-11-14
By: Sam Harris
-
Lying
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As it was in Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and Othello, so it is in life. Most forms of private vice and public evil are kindled and sustained by lies. Acts of adultery and other personal betrayals, financial fraud, government corruption - even murder and genocide - generally require an additional moral defect: a willingness to lie. In Lying, bestselling author and neuroscientist Sam Harris argues that we can radically simplify our lives and improve society by merely telling the truth in situations where others often lie.
-
-
"Telling The Truth...
- By Douglas on 11-29-13
By: Sam Harris
-
Making Sense
- Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, David Chalmers, David Deutsch, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam Harris—neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author—has been exploring some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events on his podcast, Making Sense. For Harris, honest conversation, no matter how difficult or controversial, represents the only path to moral and intellectual progress. This audiobook includes talks with Daniel Kahneman, Timothy Snyder, Nick Bostrom, and Glen Loury, on topics that range from the nature of consciousness and free will, to politics and extremism, to living ethically.
-
-
Audiobook review (just a podcast collection)
- By Amazon Customer on 12-21-20
By: Sam Harris
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
The End of Faith
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Brian Emerson
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is an impassioned plea for reason in a world divided by faith. This important and timely work delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes.
-
-
Good book, bad narrator
- By wlong on 09-17-10
By: Sam Harris
-
The Moral Landscape
- How Science Can Determine Human Values
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this explosive new book, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape".
-
-
Read it
- By Paul on 11-23-10
By: Sam Harris
-
Waking Up
- A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From multiple New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, and "new atheist" Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history could not have all been epileptics, schizophrenics, or frauds.
-
-
I don't completely agree. BUT THAT SAID...
- By World Peace on 09-11-14
By: Sam Harris
-
Lying
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As it was in Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and Othello, so it is in life. Most forms of private vice and public evil are kindled and sustained by lies. Acts of adultery and other personal betrayals, financial fraud, government corruption - even murder and genocide - generally require an additional moral defect: a willingness to lie. In Lying, bestselling author and neuroscientist Sam Harris argues that we can radically simplify our lives and improve society by merely telling the truth in situations where others often lie.
-
-
"Telling The Truth...
- By Douglas on 11-29-13
By: Sam Harris
-
Making Sense
- Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, David Chalmers, David Deutsch, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam Harris—neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author—has been exploring some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events on his podcast, Making Sense. For Harris, honest conversation, no matter how difficult or controversial, represents the only path to moral and intellectual progress. This audiobook includes talks with Daniel Kahneman, Timothy Snyder, Nick Bostrom, and Glen Loury, on topics that range from the nature of consciousness and free will, to politics and extremism, to living ethically.
-
-
Audiobook review (just a podcast collection)
- By Amazon Customer on 12-21-20
By: Sam Harris
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
The End of Faith
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Brian Emerson
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is an impassioned plea for reason in a world divided by faith. This important and timely work delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes.
-
-
Good book, bad narrator
- By wlong on 09-17-10
By: Sam Harris
-
The Moral Landscape
- How Science Can Determine Human Values
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this explosive new book, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape".
-
-
Read it
- By Paul on 11-23-10
By: Sam Harris
-
The Four Horsemen
- The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution
- By: Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and others
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett, Sam Harris, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2007, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett filmed a landmark discussion about modern atheism. The video went viral. Now, the transcript of their conversation is illuminated by new essays from three of the original participants and an introduction by Stephen Fry.
-
-
Short
- By Cole Brandon Eckhardt on 03-22-19
By: Christopher Hitchens, and others
-
Letter to a Christian Nation
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Jordan Bridges
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next 50 years," writes Sam Harris. "Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this...should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."
-
-
the examined life
- By Stanley on 12-20-06
By: Sam Harris
-
Islam and the Future of Tolerance
- A Dialogue
- By: Maajid Nawaz, Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, Maajid Nawaz
- Length: 3 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this short book, Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz invite you to join an urgently needed conversation: Is Islam a religion of peace or war? Is it amenable to reform? Why do so many Muslims seem drawn to extremism? What do words like Islamism, jihadism, and fundamentalism mean in today's world? Remarkable for the breadth and depth of its analysis, this dialogue between a famous atheist and a former radical is all the more startling for its decorum. Harris and Nawaz have produced something genuinely new: they engage one of the most polarizing issues of our time - fearlessly and fully - and actually make progress.
-
-
Must read for an honest debate on the topics
- By Andre Wallace Simonsen on 12-17-15
By: Maajid Nawaz, and others
-
On Having No Head
- By: Douglas Edison Harding
- Narrated by: Richard Lang
- Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
'Reason and imagination and all mental chatter died down... I forgot my name, my humanness, my thingness, all that could be called me or mine. Past and future dropped away... Lighter than air, clearer than glass, altogether released from myself, I was nowhere around.' Thus Douglas Harding describes his first experience of headlessness, or no self. First published in 1961, this is a classic work which conveys the experience that mystics of all times have tried to put words to.
-
-
Wonderful, secular explanation of Zen ideas
- By Litbovely on 01-19-19
-
God Is Not Great
- How Religion Poisons Everything
- By: Christopher Hitchens
- Narrated by: Christopher Hitchens
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris' recent best-seller, The End of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos.
-
-
5-Star Writing. Perfect Author Narration.
- By Michael on 12-13-09
-
Witch: A Tale of Terror
- By: Charles MacKay, Sam Harris - introduction
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For centuries in Europe, innocent men and women were murdered for the imaginary crime of witchcraft. This was a mass delusion and moral panic, driven by pious superstition and a deadly commitment to religious conformity. In Witch: A Tale of Terror, best-selling author Sam Harris introduces and reads from Charles Mackay's beloved book, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.
-
-
more Sam, please
- By aspidistra on 02-25-17
By: Charles MacKay, and others
-
The Blind Watchmaker
- Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Blind Watchmaker, knowledgably narrated by author Richard Dawkins, is as prescient and timely a book as ever. The watchmaker belongs to the 18th-century theologian William Paley, who argued that just as a watch is too complicated and functional to have sprung into existence by accident, so too must all living things, with their far greater complexity, be purposefully designed. Charles Darwin's brilliant discovery challenged the creationist arguments; but only Richard Dawkins could have written this elegant riposte.
-
-
Challenging textbook more than an enjoyable listen
- By Eric on 01-15-12
By: Richard Dawkins
-
Behave
- The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
- By: Robert Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom
- Length: 26 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the celebrated neurobiologist and primatologist, a landmark, genre-defining examination of human behavior, both good and bad, and an answer to the question: Why do we do the things we do? Sapolsky's storytelling concept is delightful but it also has a powerful intrinsic logic: He starts by looking at the factors that bear on a person's reaction in the precise moment a behavior occurs, and then hops back in time from there, in stages, ultimately ending up at the deep history of our species and its evolutionary legacy.
-
-
Insightful
- By Doug Hay on 07-27-17
By: Robert Sapolsky
-
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
- By: Yuval Noah Harari
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yuval Noah Harari's 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a probing and visionary investigation into today's most urgent issues as we move into the uncharted territory of the future. As technology advances faster than our understanding of it, hacking becomes a tactic of war, and the world feels more polarized than ever, Harari addresses the challenge of navigating life in the face of constant and disorienting change and raises the important questions we need to ask ourselves in order to survive.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Noah Lugeons on 09-11-18
-
The God Delusion
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover magazine recently called Richard Dawkins "Darwin's Rottweiler" for his fierce and effective defense of evolution. Prospect magazine voted him among the top three public intellectuals in the world (along with Umberto Eco and Noam Chomsky). Now Dawkins turns his considerable intellect on religion, denouncing its faulty logic and the suffering it causes.
-
-
Dangerous Religion
- By Rick Just on 12-21-06
By: Richard Dawkins
-
The Blank Slate
- The Modern Denial of Human Nature
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind, explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits, denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts.
-
-
Don't bother. Outdated science & poor logic...
- By ejf211 on 03-31-10
By: Steven Pinker
-
How Emotions Are Made
- The Secret Life of the Brain
- By: Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The science of emotion is in the midst of a revolution on par with the discovery of relativity in physics and natural selection in biology. Leading the charge is psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, whose research overturns the long-standing belief that emotions are automatic, universal, and hardwired in different brain regions. Instead, Barrett shows, we construct each instance of emotion through a unique interplay of brain, body, and culture.
-
-
Emotions are not things!!!!!!
- By Gary on 03-14-17
Publisher's summary
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.
Critic reviews
More from the same
Narrator
Related to this topic
-
Freedom Evolves
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can there be freedom and free will in a deterministic world? Renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett emphatically answers "yes!" Using an array of provocative formulations, Dennett sets out to show how we alone among the animals have evolved minds that give us free will and morality. Weaving a richly detailed narrative, Dennett explains in a series of strikingly original arguments - drawing upon evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, and philosophy - that far from being an enemy of traditional explorations of freedom, morality, and meaning, the evolutionary perspective can be an indispensable ally.
-
-
I knew I was going to like this book
- By Gary on 05-30-14
-
About Behaviorism
- By: B.F. Skinner
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
About Behaviorism is about the controversial philosophy known as behaviorism, written by its leading exponent.
-
-
A must listen
- By Maggie on 11-10-23
By: B.F. Skinner
-
Moral Tribes
- Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them
- By: Joshua Greene
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A pathbreaking neuroscientist reveals how our social instincts turn Me into Us, but turn Us against Them - and what we can do about it. The great dilemma of our shrinking world is simple: never before have those we disagree with been so present in our lives. The more globalization dissolves national borders, the more clearly we see that human beings are deeply divided on moral lines - about everything from tax codes to sexual practices to energy consumption - and that, when we really disagree, our emotions turn positively tribal.
-
-
Good Science, Bad Philosophy
- By Jacob on 10-27-16
By: Joshua Greene
-
Would You Kill the Fat Man?
- By: David Edmonds
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A train is racing toward five men, tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five men. If a fat man is pushed onto the line, although he will die, his body will stop the train, saving five lives. Would you kill the fat man? As David Edmonds shows, answering the question is far more complex, and important, than it first appears. In fact, how we answer it tells us a great deal about right and wrong.
-
-
Wonderfully Rendered Book...
- By Douglas on 01-25-14
By: David Edmonds
-
The Mind Club
- Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters
- By: Daniel M. Wegner, Kurt Gray
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing seems more real than the minds of other people. When you consider what your boss is thinking or whether your spouse is happy, you are admitting them into the "mind club". It's easy to assume other humans can think and feel, but what about a cow, a computer, a corporation? What kinds of minds do they have? Daniel M. Wegner and Kurt Gray are award-winning psychologists who have discovered that minds - while incredibly important - are a matter of perception.
-
-
Who is the self in me? Am I part of something bigger?
- By Philomath on 03-24-16
By: Daniel M. Wegner, and others
-
Psychotherapy East and West
- By: Alan Watts
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alan Watts examines the problem of humans in a seemingly hostile universe in ways that question the social norms and illusions that bind and constrict modern humans. Marking a groundbreaking synthesis, Watts asserts that the powerful insights of Freud and Jung, which had, indeed, brought psychiatry close to the edge of liberation, could, if melded with the hitherto secret wisdom of the Eastern traditions, free people from their battles with the self.
-
-
Not what I have come to expect from Alan Watts works
- By Shiva Latchmipersad on 03-22-19
By: Alan Watts
-
Freedom Evolves
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can there be freedom and free will in a deterministic world? Renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett emphatically answers "yes!" Using an array of provocative formulations, Dennett sets out to show how we alone among the animals have evolved minds that give us free will and morality. Weaving a richly detailed narrative, Dennett explains in a series of strikingly original arguments - drawing upon evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, and philosophy - that far from being an enemy of traditional explorations of freedom, morality, and meaning, the evolutionary perspective can be an indispensable ally.
-
-
I knew I was going to like this book
- By Gary on 05-30-14
-
About Behaviorism
- By: B.F. Skinner
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
About Behaviorism is about the controversial philosophy known as behaviorism, written by its leading exponent.
-
-
A must listen
- By Maggie on 11-10-23
By: B.F. Skinner
-
Moral Tribes
- Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them
- By: Joshua Greene
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A pathbreaking neuroscientist reveals how our social instincts turn Me into Us, but turn Us against Them - and what we can do about it. The great dilemma of our shrinking world is simple: never before have those we disagree with been so present in our lives. The more globalization dissolves national borders, the more clearly we see that human beings are deeply divided on moral lines - about everything from tax codes to sexual practices to energy consumption - and that, when we really disagree, our emotions turn positively tribal.
-
-
Good Science, Bad Philosophy
- By Jacob on 10-27-16
By: Joshua Greene
-
Would You Kill the Fat Man?
- By: David Edmonds
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A train is racing toward five men, tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five men. If a fat man is pushed onto the line, although he will die, his body will stop the train, saving five lives. Would you kill the fat man? As David Edmonds shows, answering the question is far more complex, and important, than it first appears. In fact, how we answer it tells us a great deal about right and wrong.
-
-
Wonderfully Rendered Book...
- By Douglas on 01-25-14
By: David Edmonds
-
The Mind Club
- Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters
- By: Daniel M. Wegner, Kurt Gray
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing seems more real than the minds of other people. When you consider what your boss is thinking or whether your spouse is happy, you are admitting them into the "mind club". It's easy to assume other humans can think and feel, but what about a cow, a computer, a corporation? What kinds of minds do they have? Daniel M. Wegner and Kurt Gray are award-winning psychologists who have discovered that minds - while incredibly important - are a matter of perception.
-
-
Who is the self in me? Am I part of something bigger?
- By Philomath on 03-24-16
By: Daniel M. Wegner, and others
-
Psychotherapy East and West
- By: Alan Watts
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alan Watts examines the problem of humans in a seemingly hostile universe in ways that question the social norms and illusions that bind and constrict modern humans. Marking a groundbreaking synthesis, Watts asserts that the powerful insights of Freud and Jung, which had, indeed, brought psychiatry close to the edge of liberation, could, if melded with the hitherto secret wisdom of the Eastern traditions, free people from their battles with the self.
-
-
Not what I have come to expect from Alan Watts works
- By Shiva Latchmipersad on 03-22-19
By: Alan Watts
-
The Belief Instinct
- The Psychology of Souls, Destiny, and the Meaning of Life
- By: Jesse Bering
- Narrated by: Jesse Bering
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why is belief so hard to shake? Despite our best attempts to embrace rational thought and reject superstition, we often find ourselves appealing to unseen forces that guide our destiny, wondering who might be watching us as we go about our lives, and imagining what might come after death. In this lively and masterfully argued new book, Jesse Bering unveils the psychological underpinnings of why we believe.
-
-
engaging and insightful
- By juliagee on 01-02-15
By: Jesse Bering
-
Bozo Sapiens
- Why to Err Is Human
- By: Michael Kaplan, Ellen Kaplan
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our species, it appears, is hardwired to get things wrong in myriad different ways. Why did recipients of a loan offer accept a higher rate of interest when a pretty woman's face was printed on the flyer? Why did one poll on immigration find the most despised aliens were ones from a group that did not exist? What made four of the Air Force's best pilots fly their planes, in formation, straight into the ground?
-
-
A tour de force
- By Ivan on 07-05-11
By: Michael Kaplan, and others
-
The Science of Good and Evil
- Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule
- By: Michael Shermer
- Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Science of Good and Evil, psychologist and science historian Michael Shermer explores how humans evolved from social primates into moral primates, how and why morality motivates the human animal, and how the foundation of moral principles can be built upon empirical evidence. Along the way he explains the implications of scientific findings for fate and free will, the existence of pure good and pure evil, and the development of early moral sentiments among the first humans.
-
-
Read by author
- By Gregory A. Townsend on 04-16-23
By: Michael Shermer
-
The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking
- How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane
- By: Matthew Hutson
- Narrated by: Matthew Hutson, Don Hagen
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this witty and perceptive debut, a former editor at Psychology Today shows us how magical thinking makes life worth living. Psychologists have documented a litany of cognitive biases and explained their positive functions. Now, Matthew Hutson shows us that even the most hardcore skeptic indulges in magical thinking all the time - and it's crucial to our survival. Drawing on evolution, cognitive science, and neuroscience, Hutson shows us that magical thinking has been so useful to us that it's hardwired into our brains.
-
-
Highly enjoyable
- By David R Pinsof on 05-01-12
By: Matthew Hutson
-
50 Self-Help Classics
- By: Tom Butler-Bowdon
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the books that have already changed the lives of millions. This award-winning, unabridged guide to the "literature of possibility" surveys 50 of the all-time classics, giving you their key ideas, insights, and applications, everything you need to know to start benefiting from these legendary works.
-
-
Surprisingly Interesting
- By Cathy Dopp on 10-15-06
-
Primates and Philosophers
- How Morality Evolved
- By: Frans de Waal
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"It's the animal in us," we often hear when we've been bad. But why not when we're good? Primates and Philosophers tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity's most valued traits: morality.In this provocative book, primatologist Frans de Waal argues that modern-day evolutionary biology takes far too dim a view of the natural world, emphasizing our "selfish" genes.
-
-
Having Just Read...
- By Douglas on 12-14-13
By: Frans de Waal
-
The Self Illusion
- Why There Is No "You" Inside Your Head
- By: Bruce Hood
- Narrated by: Bruce Hood
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Self Illusion provides a fascinating examination of how the latest science shows that our individual concept of a self is in fact an illusion. Most of us believe that we possess a self - an internal individual who resides inside our bodies, making decisions, authoring actions and possessing free will. The feeling that a single, unified, enduring self inhabits the body is compelling and inescapable. But that sovereignty of the self is increasingly under threat from science as our understanding of the brain advances.
-
-
Disappointing
- By David R Pinsof on 05-10-12
By: Bruce Hood
-
Breaking the Spell
- Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For all the thousands of books that have been written about religion, few until this one have attempted to examine it scientifically: to ask why - and how - it has shaped so many lives so strongly. Is religion a product of blind evolutionary instinct or rational choice? Is it truly the best way to live a moral life? Ranging through biology, history, and psychology, Daniel C. Dennett charts religion’s evolution from “wild” folk belief to “domesticated” dogma.
-
-
Great Reader Actually Enhances A Great Book!
- By Don Caliente on 07-14-14
-
Philosophy
- Who Needs It
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who needs philosophy? Ayn Rand's answer: Everyone. This collection of essays was the last work planned by Ayn Rand before her death in 1982. In it, she summarizes her view of philosophy and deals with a broad spectrum of topics. According to Ayn Rand, the choice we make is not whether to have a philosophy, but which one to have: a rational, conscious, and therefore practical one, or a contradictory, unidentified, and ultimately lethal one.
-
-
Deep and provocative
- By Sierra Bravo on 05-21-09
By: Ayn Rand
-
Why Smart People Hurt
- A Guide for the Bright, the Sensitive, and the Creative
- By: Eric Maisel
- Narrated by: Seth Podowitz
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The challenges smart and creative people encounter - from scientific researchers and genius award winners to best-selling novelists, Broadway actors, high-powered attorneys, and academics - often include anxiety, overthinking, mania, sadness, and despair. In Why Smart People Hurt, natural psychology specialist and creativity coach Dr. Eric Maisel draws on his many years of work with the best and the brightest to pinpoint these often devastating challenges and offer solutions based on the groundbreaking principles and practices of natural psychology.
-
-
Stunningly Unintelligent
- By john burke on 05-22-21
By: Eric Maisel
-
The Monk and the Philosopher
- A Father and Son Discuss the Meaning of Life
- By: Jean-Francois Revel
- Narrated by: David Shaw-Parker
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-seven years ago, Matthieu Ricard gave up a promising career as a scientist to study Tibetan Buddhism - not as a detached observer but by immersing himself in its practice under the guidance of its greatest living masters. Years later, this project was born, and Richard met with his father, Jean-Francois Revel - a French philosopher who became world famous for his challenges to both Communism and Christianity. At an inn, these two profoundly thoughtful men explored questions that have occupied humankind throughout its history.
-
-
The dialogues themselves proved tranquility is attainable.
- By Mingster on 05-16-19
-
Brainwashed
- The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience
- By: Sally Satel, Scott O. Lilienfeld
- Narrated by: Jean Barrett
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In recent years, the advent of MRI technology seems to have unlocked the secrets of the human mind, revealing the sources of our deepest desires, intentions, and fears. As renowned psychiatrist and scholar Sally Satel and psychologist Scott O. Lilienfeld demonstrate in Brainwashed, however, the explanatory power of brain scans in particular and neuroscience more generally has been vastly overestimated.
-
-
The Overall Message...
- By Douglas on 11-26-13
By: Sally Satel, and others
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Moral Landscape
- How Science Can Determine Human Values
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this explosive new book, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape".
-
-
Read it
- By Paul on 11-23-10
By: Sam Harris
-
Lying
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As it was in Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and Othello, so it is in life. Most forms of private vice and public evil are kindled and sustained by lies. Acts of adultery and other personal betrayals, financial fraud, government corruption - even murder and genocide - generally require an additional moral defect: a willingness to lie. In Lying, bestselling author and neuroscientist Sam Harris argues that we can radically simplify our lives and improve society by merely telling the truth in situations where others often lie.
-
-
"Telling The Truth...
- By Douglas on 11-29-13
By: Sam Harris
-
The End of Faith
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Brian Emerson
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is an impassioned plea for reason in a world divided by faith. This important and timely work delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes.
-
-
Good book, bad narrator
- By wlong on 09-17-10
By: Sam Harris
-
Waking Up
- A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From multiple New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, and "new atheist" Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history could not have all been epileptics, schizophrenics, or frauds.
-
-
I don't completely agree. BUT THAT SAID...
- By World Peace on 09-11-14
By: Sam Harris
-
Making Sense
- Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, David Chalmers, David Deutsch, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam Harris—neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author—has been exploring some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events on his podcast, Making Sense. For Harris, honest conversation, no matter how difficult or controversial, represents the only path to moral and intellectual progress. This audiobook includes talks with Daniel Kahneman, Timothy Snyder, Nick Bostrom, and Glen Loury, on topics that range from the nature of consciousness and free will, to politics and extremism, to living ethically.
-
-
Audiobook review (just a podcast collection)
- By Amazon Customer on 12-21-20
By: Sam Harris
-
Letter to a Christian Nation
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Jordan Bridges
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next 50 years," writes Sam Harris. "Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this...should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."
-
-
the examined life
- By Stanley on 12-20-06
By: Sam Harris
-
The Moral Landscape
- How Science Can Determine Human Values
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this explosive new book, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape".
-
-
Read it
- By Paul on 11-23-10
By: Sam Harris
-
Lying
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As it was in Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and Othello, so it is in life. Most forms of private vice and public evil are kindled and sustained by lies. Acts of adultery and other personal betrayals, financial fraud, government corruption - even murder and genocide - generally require an additional moral defect: a willingness to lie. In Lying, bestselling author and neuroscientist Sam Harris argues that we can radically simplify our lives and improve society by merely telling the truth in situations where others often lie.
-
-
"Telling The Truth...
- By Douglas on 11-29-13
By: Sam Harris
-
The End of Faith
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Brian Emerson
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is an impassioned plea for reason in a world divided by faith. This important and timely work delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes.
-
-
Good book, bad narrator
- By wlong on 09-17-10
By: Sam Harris
-
Waking Up
- A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From multiple New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, and "new atheist" Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history could not have all been epileptics, schizophrenics, or frauds.
-
-
I don't completely agree. BUT THAT SAID...
- By World Peace on 09-11-14
By: Sam Harris
-
Making Sense
- Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, David Chalmers, David Deutsch, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam Harris—neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author—has been exploring some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events on his podcast, Making Sense. For Harris, honest conversation, no matter how difficult or controversial, represents the only path to moral and intellectual progress. This audiobook includes talks with Daniel Kahneman, Timothy Snyder, Nick Bostrom, and Glen Loury, on topics that range from the nature of consciousness and free will, to politics and extremism, to living ethically.
-
-
Audiobook review (just a podcast collection)
- By Amazon Customer on 12-21-20
By: Sam Harris
-
Letter to a Christian Nation
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Jordan Bridges
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next 50 years," writes Sam Harris. "Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this...should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."
-
-
the examined life
- By Stanley on 12-20-06
By: Sam Harris
-
The Four Horsemen
- The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution
- By: Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and others
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett, Sam Harris, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2007, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett filmed a landmark discussion about modern atheism. The video went viral. Now, the transcript of their conversation is illuminated by new essays from three of the original participants and an introduction by Stephen Fry.
-
-
Short
- By Cole Brandon Eckhardt on 03-22-19
By: Christopher Hitchens, and others
-
Islam and the Future of Tolerance
- A Dialogue
- By: Maajid Nawaz, Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, Maajid Nawaz
- Length: 3 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this short book, Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz invite you to join an urgently needed conversation: Is Islam a religion of peace or war? Is it amenable to reform? Why do so many Muslims seem drawn to extremism? What do words like Islamism, jihadism, and fundamentalism mean in today's world? Remarkable for the breadth and depth of its analysis, this dialogue between a famous atheist and a former radical is all the more startling for its decorum. Harris and Nawaz have produced something genuinely new: they engage one of the most polarizing issues of our time - fearlessly and fully - and actually make progress.
-
-
Must read for an honest debate on the topics
- By Andre Wallace Simonsen on 12-17-15
By: Maajid Nawaz, and others
-
The Substance of All Things
- A Novel
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Theo Dalton is six years old when his hands are irreparably damaged in a horrific car accident that takes his mother's life. Six years later, during the sweltering summer of 1968 in rural Oklahoma, Theo meets Frank, a Native American outcast, and learns that he has the ability to heal through his disfigured hands.As he explores the extraordinary, Theo desperately attempts to remain an ordinary boy. But when word of his gift spreads, Theo is shunned by the church for doing "the devil's work". He is immediately swept away by his Auntie Li.
-
-
Relatable, reachable, familiar
- By Linda Masten on 01-18-24
By: Sam Harris
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
Freedom Evolves
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can there be freedom and free will in a deterministic world? Renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett emphatically answers "yes!" Using an array of provocative formulations, Dennett sets out to show how we alone among the animals have evolved minds that give us free will and morality. Weaving a richly detailed narrative, Dennett explains in a series of strikingly original arguments - drawing upon evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, and philosophy - that far from being an enemy of traditional explorations of freedom, morality, and meaning, the evolutionary perspective can be an indispensable ally.
-
-
I knew I was going to like this book
- By Gary on 05-30-14
-
Ham: Slices of a Life
- Essays and Stories
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 16 brilliantly observed true stories, Sam Harris emerges as a natural humorist in league with David Sedaris, Chelsea Handler, Carrie Fisher, and Steve Martin, but with a voice uniquely his own. Praised by the Chicago Sun-Times for his "manic, witty commentary", and with a storytelling talent the New York Times calls " New Yorker - worthy," he puts a comedic spin on full-disclosure episodes from his own colorful life. What better place to find painfully funny material than in growing up gay, gifted, and ambitious in the heart of the Bible belt?
-
-
mrorbitman
- By John on 11-30-15
By: Sam Harris
-
God Is Not Great
- How Religion Poisons Everything
- By: Christopher Hitchens
- Narrated by: Christopher Hitchens
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris' recent best-seller, The End of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos.
-
-
5-Star Writing. Perfect Author Narration.
- By Michael on 12-13-09
-
The God Delusion
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover magazine recently called Richard Dawkins "Darwin's Rottweiler" for his fierce and effective defense of evolution. Prospect magazine voted him among the top three public intellectuals in the world (along with Umberto Eco and Noam Chomsky). Now Dawkins turns his considerable intellect on religion, denouncing its faulty logic and the suffering it causes.
-
-
Dangerous Religion
- By Rick Just on 12-21-06
By: Richard Dawkins
-
Free Agents
- How Evolution Gave Us Free Will
- By: Kevin J. Mitchell
- Narrated by: Kevin J. Mitchell
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scientists are learning more and more about how brain activity controls behavior and how neural circuits weigh alternatives and initiate actions. As we probe ever deeper into the mechanics of decision making, many conclude that agency—or free will—is an illusion. In Free Agents, leading neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell presents a wealth of evidence to the contrary, arguing that we are not mere machines responding to physical forces but agents acting with purpose.
-
-
Adding Clarity to Agency
- By Brad Caldwell on 10-10-23
-
Consciousness Explained
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Paul Mantell
- Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The national bestseller chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 1991 is now available as an audiobook. The author of Brainstorms, Daniel C. Dennett replaces our traditional vision of consciousness with a new model based on a wealth of fact and theory from the latest scientific research.
-
-
Confuses Consciousness with Ego
- By Rahul Yadav on 07-11-19
-
Conscious
- A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind
- By: Annaka Harris
- Narrated by: Annaka Harris
- Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This mind-expanding dive into the mystery of consciousness is an illuminating meditation on the self, free will, and felt experience.
-
-
Perhaps a better definition?
- By Eratosthenes on 06-19-19
By: Annaka Harris
-
The Magic of Reality
- How We Know What's Really True
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Dawkins, the world’s most famous evolutionary biologist, presents a gorgeously lucid, science book examining some of the nature’s most fundamental questions both from a mythical and scientific perspective. Science is our most precise and powerful tool for making sense of the world. Before we developed the scientific method, we created rich mythologies to explain the unknown. The pressing questions that primitive men and women asked are the same ones we ask as children. Who was the first person? What is the sun? Why is there night and day?
-
-
Audio version is superb for us grown-ups
- By Michael Dowd on 10-10-11
By: Richard Dawkins
What listeners say about Free Will
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jennifer
- 11-15-14
Wrong Question
Do we have free will or are we merely complex stimulus response devices. Can we know? Does it matter?
I believe that I have some control over the outcome of my life. I make choices and those choices have consequences. My choices are strongly influenced by my heredity, the conditions under which my brain developed, and the accumulated experiences of my life. Nonetheless, I believe that I exercise some measure of free will in my conscious decision making.
Sam Harris asserts that this is an illusion. His argument rests on the assumption of a material universe wholly governed by natural laws dictating the interactions of the matter in that universe. That assumption is unaltered by the existence of energy as an alternative form of matter or by the possibility of multiverses. He tells us that we live in a clock-work universe where future states arise from present states. The randomness of quantum mechanics may create some uncertainty about those future states, but it does not provide freedom of choice to the collection of atoms of which we consist. It is an interesting argument, but it is irrelevant.
Free will is not a thing; it is a construct. We generally think of free will as the ability to act without certain constraints. By treating free will as the ability to act without any constraints, Harris easily defines it away.
The problem with using science to make a philosophical argument is that there is much that science cannot yet tell us. Indeed, there may be much that science will never be able to tell us. What makes science useful is that it identifies the “laws” that predict the behavior of matter and energy. Those predictions help us to harness matter an energy to do useful things. We need to remember that those laws are not in and of themselves an objective reality; they are simply models that help us navigate the universe in which we live. In the same sense, free will is a behavioral model that helps us understand the extent to which we can reasonably hold another creature.
The important question is not whether or not we have free will, but rather how free our will really is. Read in that light, Harris makes some very important points. We sometimes forget how much of our lives are determined by factors out of our control. By extension, we forget how much of other people’s lives are determined by factors out of their control. Both nature and nurture conspire to mold us into what we are. Perhaps we could take a little less credit for how well things have turned out for us and assign a little less blame to those who have not managed as well.
Perhaps the inflammatory argument that our cherished free will is an illusion should be read an argument for compassion.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
40 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ellen
- 04-23-12
LIFE/ WORLD Altering sophisticated thinking!
Where does Free Will rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This is one of the top 3 audiobooks I have listened to so far (and I have LOTS of audiobooks). I will listent to it many times----and hopefully some guests in my car will also have the privilege to be titillated by his thoughts.
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
Sam Harris is amazing! I love the subjects he choses to grapple with. I love the conclusions he draws. I love the potential impact on the way the world perceives punishment/guilt/free will. I love the fact that Sam is a neuroscientist --- clearly his opinions are based on lots of scientific knowledge--not just a philosophy.
What does Sam Harris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
I am a big fan of audiobooks. I have ADHD and the audiobook enables me to "read" books I would not otherwise be able to sit still and really comprehend fully. I have become accustomed to listening to audiobooks in my car and when the author reads the book to me--it is magical---of course he wrote it--so only he can put the passion in his words---it makes a HUGE difference---I do have other audiobooks read by someone else other then the author---it's such a privilege to hear him speak his ideas---not to mention he has a very calm clear voice.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I DID have an extreme reaction to this book. It did make me cry----because the information he is giving to us in this book --if understood by the masses has the power to completely change the world---my tears were tears of joy---
And his idea is not just some romantic idea about the way our brain works--it's based on facts--scientific facts---
I don't care about the book with regards to how it "handles" the idea of free-will in religion, but I will admit that I am an atheist and have been interested in Sam's writings from the first book because of that, but I will say that the fact that we do not have free will sets the stage for a complete shift in the way we preceive the world---a HUGE SHIFT---
Maybe like one of those plateaus in evolution that really jumps a species to the next level---is it possible to jump to another level in evolution just by having a thought? I think maybe so!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
31 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Margaret
- 05-01-12
Fascinating debate!
What made the experience of listening to Free Will the most enjoyable?
Sam Harris presents both sides well and then argues his thesis. Refreshingly frank. Felt like I was eavesdropping on a lively debate.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mark
- 04-13-12
Nothing you couldn't get from Sam's blog
Any additional comments?
I loved Sam Harris' "The Moral Landscape," and I read his blog and have enjoyed his posts on free will. The book didn't add anything to this very basic synopsis: Free will is an illusion, based on neuroscience, and we can do what we decide but we can't decide what we do. In short, regarding the idea that if you could go back in time, then you could choose differently — no you couldn't. Therefore any hate toward someone for, say, raping you is misplaced. They couldn't have done differently. If anything, you should feel compassion because how would you like to live inside the skin of someone who is a rapist and can't not be a rapist? (Sam is saying this, not me.) The book was fine, and Sam is always engaging but it lacked something special, to set it apart from a compilation of blog posts. I guess I would've wanted more real-world anecdotes and how a society could or should handle the consequences of these antisocial actions differently than it does now. The book didn't help me see how the lack of free will is meaningful in practice for my life or society as a whole. That said, the book is worthwhile if only because there's so little available on audio about this interesting subject. It's a solid brief introduction to determinism.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- janelle Knox
- 09-10-19
Harris is not a good philosopher.
For anyone who has merely dug past the surface of layman philosophy, this book is a huge contradiction of terms, ideas and definitions. Harris needs to freshen up on his knowledge (pun intended) of epistemology.
Your thoughts are all part of the naturalistic system of cause and effect, yet they somehow just materialize? Sorry Harris, you really missed the mark on this one. Frankly, this book sounded like an attempt to persuade hungry minds, searching for answers, towards a fatalistic reality - even though he tries to convince you that he’s not fatalistic, nor is his idea fatalistic. If you were looking for some compelling science, you won’t find it here. He spends only a fleeting moment talking about how he got to his conclusions through science, then the rest of the book trying to ‘explain’ what it all means through very unclear terms. If you already agree with Harris on other topics, you’ll probably love this book. If you’re in anyway knowledgeable on philosophy, give this book a hard pass and spend your 1hr reading.... anything else really.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Niall
- 04-02-12
It is a short book
What did you love best about Free Will?
Sam Harris is a favorite author so I will buy whatever he puts out- Knowing this Harris has decided to put out micro books that make tired old points that he can make slightly better than everyone else. This book is about free will- noting that the reasons we make decisions are biological, sociological and just plain logical. Religion really does not enter into the book but rather Harris reviews all the old favorite that come to mind when one talks of free will-- which takes about as long as an average newscast but costs the same as a real book. I recommend all of his work for major followers of the New Atheism moment but if you don't have regular talks of theology this may be brutally uninteresting for you. For those of us who go to special groups on atheism this is a useful tool to phrase old arguments a little more articulately
What does Sam Harris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
I love listening to Sam Harris both in book and debate because of his calm style that reminds us that the very gruesome stories he sometimes tells to make his points are not there to disgust but to make a point better. It is difficult to not dramatize stories of such profound violence but Harris can speak of those matters calmly better than anyone else
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Unfortunately, yes
Any additional comments?
I recommend everyone get his other book The Moral Landscape-- That is where his magic really is
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KT
- 04-30-12
Not so profound
Would you try another book from Sam Harris and/or Sam Harris?
Of course, but not based on this one.
What could Sam Harris have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Not sure. I simply disagree with how he took the book. It amounts to a disagreement on the definition of "free will" which maybe I can't really hold against the book. I was thoroughly disappointed in the depth of his reasoning and the scope of his thought. The book feels like the first 1/3 was leading to something then you are never taken anywhere special. This book should have been 30% the size it is even though its small to begin with.
Which scene was your favorite?
The part where the woman stands in front of a target with an apple on her head and...
Any additional comments?
Whenever an author brings up an example of someone else's opinion you have never heard of to contrast with their own, and doesn't successfully defend his point of view against it, one is left feeling let down (in this case Daniel Dennett). Of course free will is nonsensical as we commonly think of it, but instead of stating that directly and moving on, Sam Harris gets stuck in first gear with simply "we don't have free will".
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SelfishWizard
- 01-22-19
Sam Harris is Determined to be a Determinist
Sam Harris is determined to tell us why he doesn't have free will.
Harris adopts a naive faith in the universality of cause and effect as the foundation of his simplistic acceptance of determinism as the source of all human behavior. Harris bases his thesis on the idea that if we knew everything that was going on in the universe we could predict all events for the remainder of eternity. This kind of grade school determinism flies in the face of modern physics which is based on probabilities and not on cause and effect. The existence of randomness, non locality, chaos theory and quantum indeterminacy disprove simple cause and effect determinism without further discussion. We may know that several million people may eat at McDonalds this week, but we can never predict which ones will order a double cheeseburger.
Curiously Harris simply says that randomness and probability theory do not prove the existence of free will. True enough, but they do definitively disprove determinism by showing that the universe does not operate based on simple cause and effect and is far more complex than Harris imagines.
Harris argues that unconscious decision making demonstrates that we lack free will. To the contrary, people make decisions using both their conscious and unconscious minds. Often
a decision must marinate in the unconscious before it surfaces as a conscious decision.
Free Will means that we can do what we want and make decisions about how to achieve our own interests. Since humans are self interested their decisions are always made in light of those interests. And if we act in our own interests that means we are acting based on our own will. And if our acts are acts of will they are obviously freely made.
Not only is there free will but there is no other kind of will. Acts of will are acts of the being and that is the very essence of free will. Harris, on the other hand, believes he is just a zombie whose actions are determined by prior states that he is unaware of.
It is hard to understand how an intelligent person could write such gibberish.
But, at least according to Harris, he had no choice.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DS
- 03-12-13
CLASSIC SAM HARRIS
Sam Harris can write anything and I'll enjoy it. Sometimes I'll heartily agree, sometimes I'll wonder where I stand on an issue but I always have a good time listening.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jesika
- 07-11-12
Excellent, interesting book.
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I would recommend this book to everyone. Important information that can change the way you view your fellow humans and boost your compassion for everyone.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful