Introduction

The notion of free will is a fairly late arrival in the philosophical record. The French existentialist Jean pau sart argued that we are irreducibly, unavoidably free and thus cannot escape responsibility. We can't blame any one or anything else for our failings, our impure thoughts, our misguided intentions. It is a terrifying thought, and one that can, paradoxically, be paralyzing. And this radical freedom strikes him as being like death.