Book symposium on Robert Sapolsky’s Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will

Resumen

One of the most influential books of the last years on the debate about free will, and probably the most controversial one, is Robert Sapolsky’s Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will (Penguin Press, 2023). Digging deeper on the biological details the author had explored in previous works, the book meticulously explores how every aspect of our behaviour is determined by events we don’t really have a choice about, and also patiently examines the possible repercussions that the realization that free will is an illusion may have on the moral and legal aspects of our lives. Following the invitation of the editors of Teorema, here we present five papers discussing different arguments and ideas contained in the book, together with professor Sapolsky’s answers and comments.