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41Replies to Timmerman and GormanThe Journal of Ethics 26 (3): 395-414. 2022.In my reply to the thoughtful comments of Timmerman and Gorman, I take up, and further explore, some main questions, including: Can a horribly immoral person (a moral monster) lead a meaningful life? Similarly, can a significantly deluded person lead a meaningful life? What role do judgments of meaningfulness play in our normative framework? How can we understand the debate between those who would embrace the possibility of immortality and those who would reject it? What is the role of narrativi…Read more
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41Near-Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the AfterlifeOxford University Press USA. 2016.Near-death experiences offer a glimpse not only into the nature of death but also into the meaning of life. They are not only useful tools to aid in the human quest to understand death but are also deeply meaningful, transformative experiences for the people who have them. In a unique contribution to the growing and popular literature on the subject, philosophers John Martin Fischer and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin examine prominent near-death experiences, such as those of Pam Reynolds, Eben Alexand…Read more
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41Responsibility and agent-causationIn David Widerker & Michael McKenna (eds.), Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities: Essays on the Importance of Alternative Possibilities, Ashgate. 2003.
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40Alfred R. Mele, Autonomous Agents: From Self-Control to Autonomy (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), viii + 271 pp (review)Noûs 33 (1): 133-143. 1999.
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40Soft facts and Harsh realities: Reply to William Craig: John Martin FischerReligious Studies 27 (4): 523-539. 1991.. In a number of papers I have sought to discuss and cast some doubt on a certain strategy of response to an argument that purports to show that God's foreknowledge is incompatible with human freedom. This argument proceeds from the alleged ‘fixity of the past’ to the conclusion that God's foreknowledge is incompatible with human freedom. William Lane Craig has criticized my approach to these issues. Here I should like to respond to some of Craig's claims. My goal is to attempt to achieve a clea…Read more
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38The inevitableAustralasian Journal of Philosophy 70 (4). 1992.This Article does not have an abstract
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37Responsibility and FailureProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 86. 1986.John Martin Fischer; XIV*—Responsibility and Failure, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 86, Issue 1, 1 June 1986, Pages 251–272, https://doi.org/1.
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33Cultural Workers and Struggles for Social JusticeInquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines 23 (4): 55-60. 2004.
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33Precis, our stories: essays on life, death, and free will (review)Philosophical Studies 158 (3): 503-506. 2012.
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33An Actual-Sequence TheologyRoczniki Filozoficzne 70 (1): 49-78. 2022.In this paper I develop a sketch of an overall theology that dispenses with “alternative-possibilities” freedom in favor of “actual-sequence” freedom. I hold that acting freely does not require freedom to do otherwise, and that acting freely is the freedom component of moral responsibility. Employing this analytical apparatus, I show how we can offer various important elements of a theology that employs only the notion of acting freely. I distinguish my approach from the important development of…Read more
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33Erratum to: The Evil of Death: A Reply to YiPhilosophia 42 (4): 1169-1169. 2014.Erratum to: Philosophia 42:741–748DOI 10.1007/s11406-014-9543-9The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. There were two slight text errors. The correct text information are given below.In the second line of the last paragraph in section "Reply to Yi" right before the "Conclusion", the text should read as:“atypical or, as Yi suggests, are more typical than we appear to suppose”.andIn the middle of the same paragraph, the text should read as:“…Note that a proponent of…Read more
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33Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings (edited book, 9th ed.)Oxford University Press. 2021.Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings is the most comprehensive topically organized collection of classical and contemporary philosophy available. Ideal for introductory philosophy courses, the text offers a broad range of readings and depth. The text includes sections on God and Evil, Knowledge and Reality, the Philosophy of Science, the Mind/Body problem, Freedom of Will, Consciousness, Ethics, Political Philosophy, Existential Issues, and philosophical Puzzles and Pa…Read more
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33Book Review:Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments. R. Jay Wallace (review)Ethics 106 (4): 850-. 1996.
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32Book Review:An Essay on Moral Responsibility. Michael J. Zimmerman (review)Ethics 101 (2): 408-. 1991.
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32I. Molinism and its roleIn Ken Perszyk (ed.), Molinism: The Contemporary Debate, Oxford University Press. 2011.
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32Why Immortality Could Be GoodInternational Journal of Philosophical Studies 32 (1): 78-100. 2023.I revisit my article, “Why Immortality Is Not So Bad,” in which I argued that Bernard Williams’s thesis that immortality would necessarily be boring for any human being is false. Here I point out various ways in which Williams’s treatment of the issues has tilted and distorted the subsequent debates.
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32Life, Death, and Meaning: Key Philosophical Readings on the Big QuestionsRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2004.Do our lives have meaning? Should we create more people? Is death bad? Should we commit suicide? Would it be better if we were immortal? Should we be optimistic or pessimistic? Life, Death, and Meaning brings together key readings, primarily by English-speaking philosophers, on such 'big questions.'.
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32Our Stories: Essays on Life, Death, and Free Will * By John Martin Fischer (review)Analysis 70 (1): 196-198. 2010.In Our Stories, John Martin Fischer offers readers a characteristically thoughtful and engaging presentation of his views on a variety of topics, most notably death, immortality and self-expression. Having come to this collection familiar primarily with Fischer's work on freedom and responsibility, I was impressed with the range of issues treated in this latest volume. While each essay is independently appealing, perhaps the most compelling aspect of Our Stories is its cohesiveness. Fischer disc…Read more
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31Metaphilosophy and Free Will (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 59 (4): 1083-1086. 1999.
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3014. Responsibility for ConsequencesIn John Martin Fischer & Mark Ravizza (eds.), Perspectives on moral responsibility, Cornell University Press. pp. 322-348. 1993.
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30Our Fate: Essays on God and Free WillOxford University Press USA. 2016.Our Fate is a collection of John Martin Fischer's previously published articles on the relationship between God's foreknowledge and human freedom. The book contains a new introductory essay that places all of the chapters in the book into a cohesive framework. The introductory essay also provides some new views about the issues treated in the book, including a bold and original account of God's foreknowledge of free actions in a causally indeterministic world. The focus of the book is a powerful…Read more
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29Life, Death, and Meaning: Key Philosophical Readings on the Big Questions (edited book)Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2004.Do our lives have meaning? Should we create more people? Is death bad? Should we commit suicide? Would it be better to be immortal? Should we be optimistic or pessimistic? Since Life, Death, and Meaning: Key Philosophical Readings on the Big Questions first appeared, David Benatar's distinctive anthology designed to introduce students to the key existential questions of philosophy has won a devoted following among users in a variety of upper-level and even introductory courses.
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28The Metaphysics of Free Will: An Essay on Control (review)Philosophical Review 106 (3): 450. 1997.The first, the Transfer Version, employs an inference principle concerning the transfer of one's powerlessness with respect to certain facts. The principle says, roughly, "If a person is powerless over one thing, and powerless over that thing's leading to another, then the person is powerless over the second thing". The key premises are the Fixity of the Past and the Fixity of the Laws. Fischer defends the transfer principle against objections that have been raised by Anthony Kenny and Michael S…Read more
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics and Epistemology |
Value Theory |
Areas of Interest
Metaphysics and Epistemology |
Value Theory |