Manipulated Agents

This is a rigorous and insightful book by one of the leading contributors to the lively current debates about agency, free will, and moral responsibility. I admire the crystal clarity and precision of Mele's thinking and writing. He is relentless in seeking the truth, and avoiding obscurity or the easy way out. Mele's work, and this book in particular, is a model of analytic philosophy addressing big, important philosophical (and existential) issues. * John Martin Fischer, University of California, Criminal Law and Philosophy *
I hope I have made clear what an admirable and important book Manipulated Agents is. There is no more thoughtful or thorough exploration of the grounds for an historical theory of moral responsibility, one that helps us better understand the prospects for a defensible version of compatibilism. The book moreover, showcases the power of the clear-minded use of thought experiments to make philosophical progress. * Michael McKenna, University of Arizona, Criminal Law and Philosophy *
...this book is a must-read for philosophers working on moral responsibility. And for those who are interested in but unfamiliar with Mele's work on manipulation, this book will simultaneously introduce Mele's previous work and bring readers up to speed on the current state of the debate. * Taylor W. Cyr, The Philosophical Quarterly *
All of Alfred Mele's philosophical virtues are on display in this book. It is packed with creative examples, rigorous argumentation, detailed engagement with alternative views, and that rarely-sighted thing: a plausible philosophical view that still teaches us something. Manipulated Agents is a state-of-the-art account of history-sensitive compatibilism and how it can address the many puzzles surrounding manipulation. * Manuel Vargas, Professor of Philosophy, University of California at San Diego *
In his engaging, luminous, and meticulous fashion, Mele draws on radical reversal manipulation cases, featuring extreme changes in a person's values, to defend an externalist constraint on moral responsibility. Characteristically, Mele displays intellectual integrity, keen metaphysical insight, and categorical commitment to getting it right. * Ishtiyaque Haji, Professor of Philosophy, University of Calgary *
Alfred Mele's Manipulated Agents is devoted solely to understanding what can be learned about moral responsibility by attending to cases of manipulated agents who, by various means, are manipulated into acquiring beliefs, desires, intentions, values, or principles. This brief, carefully-argued book is a joy to read. It will be easily accessible to those not steeped in the literature on free will and moral responsibility, but it will also pay off handsomely for those who have been working on these topics for years. While carefully examining a range of positions one might take, Mele himself defends a version of a historical theory according to which a person is a morally responsible agent only if her history does not include certain objectionable forms of manipulation. * Michael McKenna, Professor of Philosophy, University of Arizona *