Every day we seem to make and act upon all kinds of choices: some trivial, others so consequential that they change the course of one's life, or even the course of history. But are these choices really free, or are we compelled to act the way we do by factors beyond our control? Is the feeling that we could have made different decisions just an illusion? And if our choices are not free, is it legitimate to hold people morally responsible for their actions? Thomas Pink looks at the fundamental philosophical question of free will, engaging in discussion of the claim: If our actions are causally determined by events beyond our control, that means that we can never act freely, and so can never be held responsible for our actions.

每天，我们似乎都要做出各种选择并据此行事：有些是微不足道的，有些则是影响巨大的，以至于改变了一个人的生活轨迹，甚至是历史的轨迹。但是，这些选择真的是自由的吗？还是我们被自己无法控制的因素所逼迫而采取这样的行动？我们本可以做出不同决定的感觉是否只是一种幻觉？如果我们的选择是不自由的，那么让人们对自己的行为承担道德责任是否合法？托马斯-平克着眼于自由意志这一基本的哲学问题，参与了对以下说法的讨论：如果我们的行为是由我们无法控制的事件因果决定的，那就意味着我们永远无法自由行动，因此也永远无法对我们的行为负责。