Law Commons^™

Free Will Paradigms, Kent Greenfield

Kent Greenfield

One of the iconic issues in American law and politics is the question of free will—sometimes known as agency, choice, or autonomy, or the absence of duress, coercion, and compulsion. In politics, whether one is liberal or conservative, we balk at government limitations on choice and fight those limitations with legal arguments about rights and political rhetoric about freedom. Liberals demand access to abortions, want the ability to purchase medical marijuana, and bristle at pat-down searches before boarding a plane. Conservatives dislike requirements to buy health insurance or pay taxes, rail against limits on gun ownership and school prayer, and …

Presentations On The Myth Of Choice, Kent Greenfield

Kent Greenfield

Kent Greenfield has delivered over 30 public lectures and presentations to a wide variety of audiences in support of his book, The Myth of Choice, including presentations at the Center for the Study of Law & Society at UC Berkeley, the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, TN.

Limiting Limited Liability, Kent Greenfield

Kent Greenfield

No abstract provided.

The Myth Of Choice: Personal Responsibility In A World Of Limits, Kent Greenfield

Kent Greenfield

Americans are fixated on the idea of choice. Our political theory is based on the consent of the governed. Our legal system is built upon the argument that people freely make choices and bear responsibility for them. And what slogan could better express the heart of our consumer culture than "Have it your way"?

In this provocative book, Kent Greenfield poses unsettling questions about the choices we make. What if they are more constrained and limited than we like to think? If we have less free will than we realize, what are the implications for us as individuals and for …