This fiendish novel dug its claws into me and didn’t let go until the very last page. Alissa Nutting’s Tampa is rich in imagery and metaphor, teeming with keen observations about the dark sides of American culture, and saturated in seduction. It’s a book that would have overflowed with its own verve if Nutting hadn’t […]
This fourth volume in Walter Sinnott-Armstrong’s Moral Psychology series is my favorite thus far. The issues of free will and moral responsibility have received so much attention lately––both from the academic community and the popular press––that it can be difficult to find sources that approach these topics with the rigor and nuance they require. Readers […]
“Despite being told he could step down, Jack stayed for a moment, crying, then looked over at me. It wasn’t at all the look of hatred I’d expected. Instead it was a look of mutual knowledge, Jack conveying to me his new understanding that the world could be a terrible place. His eyes said that […]
“The adult world has so much less to offer than adolescence does.” ––Tampa, by Alissa Nutting, pg. 140 “If we are merely slaves to our groupish tendencies and our inbuilt decision-making machinery, then what of free will, moral responsibility, and intellectual growth? But take heart, fellow travelers: Ironically, the very social processes that constrain […]
“I’d be the sexual yardstick for his whole life: Jack would spend the rest of his days trying but failing to relive the experience of being given everything at a time when he knew nothing. Like a tollbooth in his memory, every partner he’d have afterward would have to pass through the gate of my […]
It’s been a while since I lost myself in an out-and-out thriller, and I’d forgotten how much fun they can be. Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One is a firecracker of a debut novel that left me aching for more at the end of each sitting. Blending near-future virtual reality immersion technology with an almost autistic […]
“The evolution of the mammalian brain involves tight links between the reward (positive and negative) system and the prefrontal cortex. These links support controlled behavior, behavior that is appropriate to the life-maintaining business of the animal in its physical and social world. Developing patterns of self-control during maturation is critical to the acquisition of skills […]
“Probably we should abandon the notion that free will entails actions originating with conscious thought. Even the fruit fly data cited above suggest that advanced conscious thought is not the place where actions originate. The role of consciousness is to evaluate, elaborate, refine, and in other ways alter, rather than start, the causal sequence that […]
“I think of free will as the capacity for free action. Free action means that the person could do different things in the same situation. In essence, the question of whether someone acted freely is a question of whether the person could have done something differently. This is highly relevant to moral judgment and moral […]
“‘Basically, kid, what this all means is that life is a lot tougher than it used to be, in the Good Old Days, back before you were born. Things used to be awesome, but now they’re kinda terrifying. To be honest, the future doesn’t look too bright. You were born at a pretty crappy time […]