Volume 11, Issue 1, 2009
Symposium: Did God Mandate Genocide?
J. P. Moreland
Pages 183-193
DOI: 10.5840/pc200911114
Searle’s Rapprochement between Naturalism and Libertarian Agency
A Review Essay on Freedom and Neurobiology
Most philosophers agree that libertarian freedom and the ontology most naturally associated with it is not easily harmonized with epistemically robust versions of naturalism. And while he continues to remain a bit skeptical of such harmonizations efforts, John Searle has recently proffered hope for such reconciliation and the general contours to which any such attempt must conform. I state Searle’s views, criticize each step in his argument, and conclude that his attempt at a rapprochement is a failure.