Against Moral Responsibility

Praise

Waller argues against the existence of moral responsibility, while defending the existence of free will….If true, Waller’s conclusion is enormously important.—Metapsychology—

Waller takes an unusual position….Whether or not the argument is ultimately persuasive, the author develops it with much detail, care, and attention to empirical data.

Provocative….Waller has an impressive breadth of knowledge regarding free will and moral responsibility and makes many interesting and convincing points…This book will make readers think about moral responsibility in new ways that hopefully lead to a more healthy society.

Waller has presented us with a forceful, rich, and interesting book arguing for a highly original position. It combines compatibilism on free will with hard determinism on moral responsibility, couple with an optimistic discussion of both the possibility for and the outcome of abolishing moral responsibility. I sincerely hope that with this book his views will receive the critical attention they merit.

An adroit survey of…analytic philosophers…[Waller] argues that…the degree of freedom that moral agents have is really far less than usually believed and is by no means equally shared. He makes a good case for this claim, and then goes on to argue for a much stronger claim, namely that we must reject…the social practice of rewarding or punishing other people for their moral or immoral behaviors.

The book presents a powerful case. Particularly refreshing and useful is Waller’s connection of these philosophical debates with questions in sociology and politics. He argues persuasively that the rejection of moral responsibility shifts the focus, away from the individual and toward the social or systemic problems that cause immoral behavior….This book has an importance that extends beyond narrow philosophical debates.

Waller offers a compelling argument to the effect that compatibilism does not entail moral responsibility and that systems of moral responsibility are inherently unfair….Waller’s prose is easy to read, and his meticulous research runs the gamut from philosophy to neuroscience to cognitive psychology. As unorthodox as his thesis may be, Waller’s argument cannot be dismissed easily and should be taken very seriously by all scholars interested in the nature of free will. Highly recommended.

Recalling Wolfgang Pauli’s famous putdown of a fellow physicist’s work as ‘not even wrong,’ we can appreciate the fact that a crisp, clear argument can illuminate the field by uncovering a tempting but heretofore unexamined falsehood and forthrightly asserting it. I cannot think of a better example that Waller’s book, from which I have learned more than from the last dozen books and article on free will that I have read, a bounty of valuable insights all marshaled on behalf of a thesis that has never before been properly defended, and is in the end, in my opinion, indefensible—but for reasons that are instructive. Waller has opened my eyes about my own project and other competing projects in the field.

Important and interesting….Waller has written a deeply though-provoking book.