Free Will
E744185
Free Will is a short, influential philosophical book by Sam Harris that argues human free will is an illusion grounded in neuroscience and psychology.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Free Will canonical | 4 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T8578337 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Free Will Context triple: [Sam Harris, notableWork, Free Will]
-
A.
Freewill
"Freewill" is a 1980 progressive rock song by the Canadian band Rush, known for its complex musicianship and philosophical lyrics about choice and personal responsibility.
-
B.
The Freedom of the Will
The Freedom of the Will is an influential 18th-century theological and philosophical treatise by Jonathan Edwards that rigorously defends a compatibilist view of human freedom and divine sovereignty.
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C.
On the Freedom of the Will
On the Freedom of the Will is a philosophical treatise by Arthur Schopenhauer that critically examines the nature of human freedom, moral responsibility, and determinism.
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D.
An Essay on Free Will
An Essay on Free Will is a highly influential philosophical work by Peter van Inwagen that rigorously defends incompatibilism and examines the relationship between free will, determinism, and moral responsibility.
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E.
On Free Choice of the Will
On Free Choice of the Will is a philosophical and theological treatise by St. Augustine that explores human freedom, moral responsibility, and the problem of evil in relation to divine justice.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Free Will Target entity description: Free Will is a short, influential philosophical book by Sam Harris that argues human free will is an illusion grounded in neuroscience and psychology.
-
A.
Freewill
"Freewill" is a 1980 progressive rock song by the Canadian band Rush, known for its complex musicianship and philosophical lyrics about choice and personal responsibility.
-
B.
The Freedom of the Will
The Freedom of the Will is an influential 18th-century theological and philosophical treatise by Jonathan Edwards that rigorously defends a compatibilist view of human freedom and divine sovereignty.
-
C.
On the Freedom of the Will
On the Freedom of the Will is a philosophical treatise by Arthur Schopenhauer that critically examines the nature of human freedom, moral responsibility, and determinism.
-
D.
An Essay on Free Will
An Essay on Free Will is a highly influential philosophical work by Peter van Inwagen that rigorously defends incompatibilism and examines the relationship between free will, determinism, and moral responsibility.
-
E.
On Free Choice of the Will
On Free Choice of the Will is a philosophical and theological treatise by St. Augustine that explores human freedom, moral responsibility, and the problem of evil in relation to divine justice.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
book
ⓘ
philosophy book ⓘ |
| argumentBasis |
neuroscientific evidence
ⓘ
psychological research ⓘ |
| author | Sam Harris ⓘ |
| authorProfession |
Sam Harris is a neuroscientist
ⓘ
linked to:
Sam Harris
Sam Harris is a philosopher ⓘ
linked to:
Sam Harris
Sam Harris is a writer ⓘ
linked to:
Sam Harris
|
| centralClaim | human free will is an illusion ⓘ |
| claimsImplication |
compassion for others is supported by recognizing lack of free will
ⓘ
retributive punishment is undermined ⓘ traditional notions of moral responsibility must be revised ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States
ⓘ
linked to:
United States of America
|
| criticizedBy |
some compatibilist philosophers
ⓘ
some philosophers defending libertarian free will ⓘ |
| genre |
philosophy
ⓘ
popular science ⓘ |
| hasFormat |
audiobook
ⓘ
hardcover ⓘ paperback ⓘ |
| intendedAudience | general audience ⓘ |
| isbn10 | 1451683405 ⓘ |
| isbn13 | 9781451683400 ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mediaType |
ebook
ⓘ
print ⓘ |
| notableFor |
influencing contemporary debates on free will
ⓘ
popularizing neuroscientific arguments against free will ⓘ |
| pageCount | 96 ⓘ |
| positionOnFreeWill |
denies libertarian free will
ⓘ
supports a compatibilist-like pragmatic view of responsibility ⓘ |
| praisedFor |
accessibility to non-specialists
ⓘ
bringing neuroscience into free will debates ⓘ clarity of exposition ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 2012 ⓘ |
| publisher | Free Press ⓘ |
| relatedWorkByAuthor |
Letter to a Christian Nation
ⓘ
The Moral Landscape ⓘ Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion ⓘ |
| style |
argumentative
ⓘ
concise ⓘ |
| subject |
determinism
ⓘ
free will ⓘ moral responsibility ⓘ neuroscience ⓘ psychology ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Free Will Description of subject: Free Will is a short, influential philosophical book by Sam Harris that argues human free will is an illusion grounded in neuroscience and psychology.
Referenced by (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.