Freedom and the Self

April 1, 2015

This collection of six essays edited by Cahn (philosophy, City Univ. of New York) and Eckert (philosophy, Univ. of Massachusetts Dartmouth) on the philosophy of the late David Foster Wallace (1962-2008) largely focuses on Wallace's stance on free will. The first three essays examine Wallace's criticism of philosopher Richard Taylor's influential essay "Fatalism," in which Taylor argued that human action is necessary predetermined. Wallace believed that previous criticisms of Taylor's argument were inadequate, and he constructed a formal logical system ("System J") to address Taylor's argument. The fourth essay, by Eckert, attempts to apply Wallace's "System J" to philosophical problems associated with time travel. Eckert offers a robust and philosophically rigorous analysis of the problem of time travel, ultimately arguing that the system would prohibit actual time travel. The last two essays examine Wallace's account of free will as requiring both genuine alternate possible actions, as well as genuine alternate possible mental events such as thoughts, desires, etc. VERDICT Although philosophically rigorous at times, this collection of essays provides insight into the philosophical career of celebrated author Wallace and serves as a good introduction to the metaphysical problems surrounding determinism, time travel, and free will. Recommended for all libraries.--William Simkulet, Univ. of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood Cty., Marshfield

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