Essays On Freedom of the Will [Paperback]

Schopenhauer's prize essay On the Freedom of Will is one of the classics of Western philosophy, dealing with the question of free will versus determinism. His treatment of the problem of free will is by no means obsolete, containing penetrating reflections relevant to contemporary discussion.

The argument of the essay is clearly and rigorously presented, and reveals many basic features of Schopenhauer's thought. As such, it forms a useful introduction to Schopenhauer's philosophy in general. Equally, the essay can be studied with profit independently of Schopenhauer's metaphysical views.

This new edition of the sole English translation of this classic text contains and expanded bibliography, index and preface in which the translator comments on recent scholarship on Schopenhauer. The translator's introduction puts the essay into the context of Schopenhauer's general philosophy and suggests some possible criticisms of his position.List of Contributors vii

Introduction 1

Part I Toward Postmodernism: Reconfiguring Theory and Politics

1 General Social Theory, Irony, Postmodernism 17

2 Postmodern Social Theory as Narrative with a Moral Intent 47

3 On the Postmodern Barricades: Feminism, Politics, and Theory 82

4 The Strange Life and Hard Times of the Concept of General Theory in Sociology: A Short History of Hope 101

Part II Critics of Postmodernism: In Defense of Scientific Theory

5 Defending Social Science against the Postmodern Doubt 137

6 The Promise of Positivism 156

7 The Confusion of the Modes of Sociology 179

8 Daring Modesty: On Metatheory, Observation, and Theory Growth 199

Part III Between Modernism and Postmodernism: Toward a Contextualizing General lÃV