Free Agents: A Conversation on Free Will with Kevin J. Mitchell

As science discovers more and more about the universe and human beings, many conclude that free will is an illusion. In ‘Free Agents‘, leading neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell argues that there is a wealth of evidence to the contrary and presents an evolutionary case for the existence of free will. Join us and discuss the free will vs. determinism debate, how evolution made us free agents, and what that means for decision-making, moral responsibility, the law, AI, and more!

“Kevin Mitchell brings clear thinking and scientific rigor to a vital topic that leaves many people confused, caught between the preposterous alternatives that either humans are robots or that every time we make a decision, a miracle occurs.”—Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of ‘How the Mind Works’

“At long last, a fresh approach to the free will question that is both sensible and scientifically plausible: no fudging, no hand-waving, no philosophical flimflam. Mitchell brilliantly delivers the goods, drawing on a deep understanding of evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and physics. He has an uncanny knack for rendering a complex story easy to grasp without dumbing things down. A literary gem that is downright fun to read.”—Patricia S. Churchland, author of ‘Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition’

Kevin J. Mitchell is an associate professor of genetics and neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. He is the author of ‘Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are‘ and runs a popular blog, ‘Wiring the Brain‘. His work has appeared in publications such as Scientific American, the Guardian, and Psychology Today.