Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside
University Professor in the University of California
(Press release here)
Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me
Other times, I can barely see
Lately, it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it's been...
​
- The Grateful Dead
Below you will find published articles and books, as well as interviews and lectures, by John Martin Fischer, sorted roughly by subject. This site is an updated version of the collection found on Andrew M. Bailey's site. We encourage you to visit his site as well!
Free Will Papers
(1979) "Lehrer's New Move: 'Can' in Theory and Practice", Theoria 45: 49-62.
(1983) "Incompatibilism", Philosophical Studies 43: 127-137.
(1983) "Power Over the Past", Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 65: 335-350
(1986) "Power Necessity", Philosophical Topics 14: 77-91.
(1986) "van Inwagen on Free Will", The Philosophical Quarterly 36: 252-260.
(1988) "Freedom and Miracles", Nous 22: 235-252
(1992) "When the Will Is Free" (with Mark Ravizza), Philosophical Perspectives 6: 423-451.
(1992) "Fate and Fatalism", The Encyclopedia of Ethics (Becker, ed.): 359-361.
(1992) "Freedom and Determinism", The Encyclopedia of Ethics (Becker, ed.): 385-388.
(1994) "Alternative Possibilities: A Reply to Lamb" (with Paul Hoffman), Journal of Philosophy 91: 321-326.
(1996) "A New Compatibilism", Philosophical Topics 24: 49-66.
(1996) "Free Will and the Modal Principle" (with Mark Ravizza), Philosophical Studies 83: 213-230.
(1997) "Free Will", Dictionary of
Business Ethics (Freeman and Warhane, eds.): 285-288.
(1998) "The Metaphysics of Free Will: A Reply to My Critics", Journal of Philosophy 29: 157-167.
(1999) "Critical Notice of Richard Double's Metaphilosophy and Free Will", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 59: 1083-1086.
(2000) "Problems with Actual-Sequence Incompatibilism", The Journal of Ethics 4: 323-328.
(2001) "Critical Notice of Jordan Howard Sobel's Puzzles for the Will", Canadian Journal of Philosophy 31: 427-446.
(2005) "Dennett on the Basic Argument", Metaphilosophy 36: 427-435.
(2009) "Philosophy of Action: 5 Questions", Philosophy of Action: 5 Questions (Buckareff and Aguilar, eds.): 31-44.
(2010) "Indeterminism and Control: The Problem of Luck", Law and Neuroscience: Current Legal Issues Volume 13 (Freedan, ed.): 41-60.
(2011) "The Truth About Freedom: A Reply to Merricks" (with Patrick Todd), Philosophical Review 120: 97-115.
(2013) "Does the Consequence Argument Beg the Question?" (with Garrett Pendergraft), Philosophical Studies 166: 575-595.
(2014) "Toward a Solution to the Luck Problem", Libertarian Free Will: Contemporary Debates (Palmer, ed.): 52-69.
(2016) "Libertarianism and the Problem of Flip-Flopping", in Free Will and Theism (Timpe and Speak, eds.).
(2017) "Symposium on the Fixity of the Past: Incompatibilism and the Fixity of the Past" (with Neal A. Tognazzini), in Being, Freedom, and Method (Keller, ed.): 40-48.
Moral Responsibility Papers
(1982) "Responsibility and Control", Journal of Philosophy 79: 24-40.
(1986) "Responsibility and Failure", Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 86: 251-270.
(1988) "Responsiveness and Moral Responsibility", in Responsibility, Character, and the Emotions (Schoeman, ed.). Reprinted in My Way.
(1991) "Responsibility and Inevitability" (with Mark Ravizza), Ethics 101: 258-278.
(1992) "The Inevitable" (with Mark Ravizza), Australasian Journal of Philosophy 70: 388-404.
(1994) "Responsibility for Consequences" (with Mark Ravizza), In Harm’s Way:Essays in Honor of Joel Feinberg (Coleman and Buchanan, eds.): 183-208.
(1994) "Responsibility and History" (with Mark Ravizza), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 19: 430-451.
(1995) "Libertarianism and Avoidability: A Reply to Widerker", Faith and Philosophy 12: 119-125.
(1997) "Responsibility, Control, and Omissions", The Journal of Ethics 1: 45-64.
(1998) "Moral Responsibility and the Metaphysics of Free Will: Reply to van Inwagen", The Philosophical Quarterly 191: 215-220.
(1999) "Recent Work on Moral Responsibility", Ethics 110: 93-139.
(1999) "Responsibility and Self-Expression", The Journal of Ethics 3: 277-297.
(2000) "Transfer Principles and Moral Responsibility" (with Eleonore Stump), Philosophical Perspectives 14: 48-55.
(2000) "Responsibility, History and Manipulation", The Journal of Ethics 4: 385-391.
(2000) "Precis of Responsibility and Control" (with Mark Ravizza), Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 61: 441-445.
(2000) "Reply to Comments" (with Mark Ravizza), Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 61: 467-480.
(2000) "Chicken Soup for the Semi-Compatibilist Soul: Replies to Haji and Kane", The Journal of Ethics 4: 404-407.
(2000) "Excerpts from John Martin Fischer's Discussion with Members of the Audience" (with Scott MacDonald, Carl Ginet, Joseph Margolis, Mark Case, Elie Noujain, Robert Kane, Derk Pereboom), The Journal of Ethics 4: 408-417.
(2002) "Frankfurt-Type Compatibilism", Contours of Agency: Essays on Themes from Harry Frankfurt (Buss and Overton, eds.): 1-26.
(2002) "Frankfurt-Type Examples and Semi-Compatibilism", The Oxford Handbook of Free Will (Kane, ed.): 281-308.
(2003) "'Ought-Implies-Can', Causal Determinism, and Moral Responsibility", Analysis 63: 244-250.
(2003) "Responsibility and Agent-Causation", Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities (Widerker and McKenna, eds.): 235-250.
(2004) "Responsibility and Manipulation", The Journal of Ethics 8: 145-177.
(2004) "Transfer of Non-Responsibility", Freedom and Determinism vol. 2 (Campbell, O'Rourke, and Shier, eds.): 189-209.
(2005) "Reply: The Free Will Revolution", Philosophical Explorations 8: 145-156.
(2006) "The Free Will Revolution (Continued)", The Journal of Ethics 10: 315-345.
(2006) "The Cards That Are Dealt You", The Journal of Ethics 10: 107-129.
(2006) "Summary of My Way", Philosophical Books 47: 195-197.
(2006) "A Reply to Pereboom, Zimmerman, and Smith", Philosophical Books 47: 235-244.
(2006) "Free Will and Moral Responsibility", Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory (Copp, ed.): 321-354.
(2007) "The Importance of Frankfurt-Style Argument", The Philosophical Quarterly 57: 464-471.
(2008) "My Way and Life's Highway: Replies to Steward, Smilansky, and Perry", The Journal of Ethics 12: 167-189.
(2008) "Freedom, Foreknowledge, and Frankfurt: A Reply to Vihvelin", Canadian Journal of Philosophy 38: 327-342.
(2008) "Responsibility and the Kinds of Freedom", The Journal of Ethics 12: 203-228.
(2009) "The Truth About Tracing" (with Neal Tognazzini), Nous 43: 531-556.
(2009) "The Direct Argument: You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello", Essays on Free Will and Moral Responsibility (Cohen and Trakakis, eds.): 31-44.
(2009) "Ultimacy and Alternative Possibilities", Philosophical Studies 144: 15-20.
(2010) "Responsibility and Autonomy", A Companion to the Philosophy of Action (O'Connor and Sandis, eds.): 309-316.
(2010) "The Frankfurt Cases: The Moral of the Stories", Philosophical Review 119: 315-336.
(2010) "Precis of My Way", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 53: 229-241.
(2010) "Replies", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 53: 267-278.
(2010) "Blame and Avoidability: A Reply to Otsuka", (with Neal Tognazzini), The Journal of Ethics 14: 43-51.
(2010) "Manipulation and Guidance Control: A Reply to Long", Action, Ethics, and Responsibility (Campbell, O'Rourke, and Silverstein, eds.): 175-186.
(2011) "Replies", Social Theory and Practice 37: 143-181.
(2011) "Frankfurt-type Cases and Semicompatibilism: New Work", Oxford Handbook on Free Will, second edition (Kane, ed.): 243-265.
(2011) "The Zygote Argument Remixed", Analysis 71: 267-272.
(2011) "The Physiognomy of Responsibility" (with Neal Tognazzini), Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 82: 381-417.
(2012) "Semicompatibilism and Its Rivals", The Journal of Ethics 16: 117-143.
(2012) "Responsibility and Autonomy: The Problem of Mission Creep", Philosophical Issues 22: 165-184.
(2013) "The Deterministic Horn of the Dilemma Defense: A Reply to Widerker and Goetz", Analysis 73: 489-496.
(2013) "The Frankfurt Cases: Philosophical Lightning Rods", Essays on Free Will and Moral Responsibility (Caouette and Haji, eds.): 43-57.
(2014) "Strawson and the Facts of Agency", Oxford Handbook on Agency, vol. 2 (Tognazzini and Shoemaker, eds.): 93-117.
(2015) "Responsibility and the Actual Sequence", Oxford Studies in Agency and Responsibility, vol 3., (Shoemaker ed.): 120-135.
(2016) "How do Manipulation Arguments Work?", The Journal of Ethics 20: 47-67.
(2017) "Responsibility and Omissions", The Ethics and Law of Omissions (Nelkin and Rickless, eds.): 148-162.
(2017). "Responsibility, Autonomy, and the Zygote Argument", Journal of Ethics 21: 223-237.
(2017) "Semicompatibilism", The Routledge Companion to Free Will (Timpe, Griffith, and Levy, eds.): 5-14
(2018) "The Freedom Required for Moral Responsibility" Virtue, Happiness, Knowledge (Brink, Meyer, Suavé, and Shields, eds.): 216-233.
Ethics and Value Papers
(1986) "Causation and Liability" (with Robert Ennis), Philosophy and Public Affairs 15: 33-40.
(1991) "Tooley and the Trolly", Philosophical Studies 62: 93-100.
(1991) "Abortion and Self-Determination", Journal of Social Philosophy 22: 5-13.
(1991) “Thoughts on the Trolley Problem”, Ethics: Problems and Principles (Fischer and Ravizza, eds.): 308-317.
(1992) "The Trolley and the Sorites", Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities 4: 105-126.
(1992) "Thomson and the Trolley" (with Mark Ravizza), Journal of Social Philosophy 23: 64-87.
(1992) "Quinn on Doing and Allowing", (with Mark Ravizza), Philosophical Review 101: 343-352.
(1993) "Quinn on Double Effect: The Problem of "Closeness" (with Mark Ravizza, David Copp), Ethics 103: 707-725.
(1993) "Insiders and Outsiders", Journal of Social Philosophy 24: 155-160.
(1994) "Ducking Harm and Sacrificing Others" (with Mark Ravizza), Journal of Social Philosophy 25: 135-145.
(1995) "Stories", Midwest Studies in Philosophy 20: 1-14.
(1999) "Contribution on Martha Nussbaum's The Therapy of Desire", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 59: 787-792.
(2000) "As Go the Frankfurt Examples, so Goes Deontic Morality", The Journal of Ethics 4: 361-363.
(2003) "Abortion, Autonomy, and Control of One's Body", Social Philosophy and Policy 20: 286-306.
(2006) "Punishment and Desert: A Reply to Dolinko", Ethics 117: 109-118.
(2008-09) "Stories and the Meaning of Life", Philosophic Exchange 39: 2-16.
(2013) "Punishment and Desert: The Retributive Theory of Moral Responsibility", The Future of Punishment (Nadelhofer, ed.): 3-24.
(2013) "The Path of Life [American Philosophical Association Presidential Address]", Proceedings of the American Philosophical Association 87: 60-77.
(2013) "Abortion and Ownership", The Journal of Ethics 17: 275-304.
Death and Immortality Papers
(1986) "Why Is Death Bad?" (with Anthony Brueckner), Philosophical Studies 50: 213-221.
(1992) "Death", The Encyclopedia of Ethics (Becker, ed.): 239-241.
(1993) "Recent Work on Death and the Meaning of Life", Philosophical Books 34: 65-75.
(1993) "The Asymmetry of Early Death and Late Birth" (with Anthony Brueckner), Philosophical Studies 71: 327-331.
(1993) "Why Immortality is Not So Bad", International Journal of Philosophical Studies 2: 257-270.
(1993) "Death's Badness" (with Anthony Brueckner), Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 74: 37-45.
(1996) "Philosophical Models of Immortality in
Science Fiction" (with Ruth Curl), Immortal Engines: Life Extension and Immortality in Science Fiction and Fantasy (Westfahl and Slusser, eds.): 3-12.
(1997) "Death, Badness, and the Impossibility of Experience", The Journal of Ethics 1: 341-353.
(1998) "Being Born Earlier" (with Anthony Brueckner), Australasian Journal of Philosophy 76: 110-114.
(2000) "Death and the Psychological Conception of Personal Identity" (with Daniel Speak), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 24: 84-93.
(2005) "Free Will, Death, and Immortality: The Role of Narrative", Philosophical Papers 34: 379-403.
(2006) "Earlier Birth and Later Death: Symmetry Through Thick and Thin", The Good, the Right, Life and Death (Feldman, McDaniel, and Raibley, eds.): 189-202.
(2006) "Epicureanism about Death and Immortality", The Journal of Ethics 10: 355-381.
(2012) "Replies to Critics of Our Stories", Philosophical Studies 158: 529-540.
(2013) "The Evil of Death and the Lucretian Symmetry: a Reply to Feldman" (with Anthony Brueckner), Philosophical Studies 163: 783-789.
(2013) "Death", International Encyclopedia of Ethics (Lafollete, ed.).
(2014) "Prenatal and Posthumous Non-Existence: A Reply to Johansson" (with Anthony Brueckner), The Journal of Ethics 18: 1-9.
(2014) "Accommodating Counterfactual Attitudes: A Further Reply to Johansson" (with Anthony Brueckner), The Journal of Ethics 18: 19-21.
(2014) "The Mirror-Image Argument: An Additional Reply to Johansson" (with Anthony Brueckner), The Journal of Ethics 18: 325-33.
(2014) "The Near-Death Experience Argument Against Physicalism: A Critique" (with Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin), Journal of Consciousness Studies 21: 158-183.
(2014) "Immortality and Boredom" (with Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin), The Journal of Ethics 18: 353-372.
(2014) "The Evil of Death: A Reply to Yi" (with Anthony Brueckner), Philosophia 42: 741-748.
(2017) "(Not) Riding into the Sunset: The Significance of Endings" (with Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin), Reflections on Ethics and Responsibility (Goldberg, ed.): 201-218.
(2018) "University Professor Lecture: Near-Death Experiences: The Stories They Tell", The Journal of Ethics 22: 97-112.
(2020) "Are 'Near-Death Experiences' Real?", The New York Times.
Philosophy of Religion Papers
(1983) "Freedom and Foreknowledge", Philosophical Review 92: 67-69.
(1985) "Ockhamism", Philosophical Review 94: 81-100.
(1985) "Scotism", Mind 94: 231-243.
(1986) "Hard-Type Soft Facts", Philosophical Review 95: 591-601.
(1986) "Pike's Ockhamism", Analysis 46: 57-63.
(1988) "Freedom and Actuality”", Divine and Human
Action: Essays in the Metaphysics of Theism (Morris, ed.): 236-254.
(1991) "Soft Facts and Harsh Realities: Reply to William Craig", Religious Studies 27: 523-539.
(1991) "Snapshot Ockhamism", Philosophical Perspectives 5: 355-371.
(1992) "Recent Work on God and Freedom", American Philosophical Quarterly 29: 91-109.
(1992) "Critical Notice on William Lane Craig's Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom", Religious Studies 28: 269-274.
(1993) "Hard Properties", Faith and Philosophy 10: 161-169.
(2002) "Foreknowledge and Freedom: A Reply to Gale", Faith and Philosophy 10: 161-169.
(2007) "Exploring Evil and Philosophical Failure: A Critical Notice of Peter van Inwagen’s The Problem of Evil" (with Neal Tognazzini), Faith and Philosophy 24: 458-474.
(2008) "Molinism", Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion 1: 18-43.
(2009) "More on Molinism", Metaphysics and God (Timpe, ed.): 127-140.
(2009) "Engaging with Pike: God, Freedom, and Time" (with Patrick Todd, Neal Tognazzini), Philosophical Papers 38: 247-270.
(2011) "Freedom, Foreknowledge, and the Fixity of the Past", Philosophia 39: 461-474.
(2012) "Struggling with Evil: Comments on Wandering in Darkness by Eleonore Stump", European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 4: 109-122.
(2013) "The Logic of Theological Incompatibilism: A Reply to Westphal" (with Neal Tognazzini), Analysis 73: 46-48.
(2013) "The Truth About Foreknowledge" (with Patrick Todd), Faith and Philosophy 30: 286-301.
(2014) "Omniscience, Freedom, and Dependence" (with Neal Tognazzini), Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 88: 246-267.
(2016) "Introduction to Our Fate", Our Fate: Essays on God and Free Will: 1-52.
(2017) "Precis of Our Fate", European Journal of Philosophy 9: 1-2.
(2017) "Book Symposium on Our Fate: Replies to My Critics", Science, Religion, and Culture 4: 79-101.
(2017) "Book Symposium on Our Fate: Replies to My Critics", European Journal of Philosophy 9: 63-86.
Misc. Papers
(1985) "Functionalism and Propositions", Philosophical Studies 48: 295-311.
(2001) "Newcomb's Problem: A Reply to Carlson", Analysis 61: 229-236.
(2006) "Harry Frankfurt", The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Macillan).
(2017) "Deep Control, Death, and Co.", Ethics at 3AM (Marshall, ed.): 72-79.
Reviews
(1979) "Review of Reason and Action by Bruce Aune", Philosophical Review 88: 453-457.
(1983) "Review of Practical Ethics by Peter Singer", Philosophical Review 92: 264-266.
(1984) "Review of The Intentionality of Human Action by George Wilson", Philosophical Review 93: 483-489.
(1985) "Review of Obligation and Mutual Respect by Philip Soper", The Yale Law Journal 95: 437-453.
(1987) "Review of Freedom and Belief by Galen Strawson", Times Literary Supplement 7: 852.
(1988) "Review of An Essay on Free Will by Peter van Inwagen", Philosophical Review 97: 401-408.
(1989) "Review of Harm to Self by Joel Feinberg", Philosophical Review 98: 129-135.
(1989) "Review of The Morality of Freedom by Joseph Raz", Philosophical Review 98: 254-257.
(1990) "Review of Freedom from Necessity by Bernard Berofsky", Philosophical Review 99: 649-653.
(1991) "Review of An Essay on Moral Responsibility by Michael Zimmerman", Ethics 101: 408-409.
(1991) "Review of The Future: An Essay on God, Temporality, and Truth by J.R. Lucas", Philosophical Books 32: 251-253.
(1991) "Review of God, Time, and Knowledge by William Hasker", Journal of Philosophy 88: 427-433.
(1991) "Review of Lawless Minds by Raziel Abelson", Philosophical Books 32: 240-241.
(1992) "Review of On Divine Foreknowledge by Luis De Molina (translated by Alfred Freddoso)", Philosophical Review 101: 387-391.
(1992) "Review of The Non-Reality of Free Will by Richard Double", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 52: 1004-1007.
(1992) "Review (with Mark Ravizza) of Responsibility, Freedom, and Reason by Susan Wolf", Ethics 102: 368-389.
(1993) "Review of Confrontations with the Reaper by Fred Feldman", Philosophical Review 102: 416-418.
(1993) "Review of Thomas Reid on Freedom and Morality by William Rowe", Faith and Philosophy 10: 266-271.
(1995) "Review of Morality, Mortality by F.M. Kamm", Ethics 105: 933-938.
(1996) "Review of Responsibility and Moral Sentiments by R. Jay Wallace", Ethics 106: 850-853.
(2000) "Review of The Significance of Free Will by Robert Kane", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 60: 141-148.
(2001) "Review of Freedom and Illusion by Saul Smilansky", Times Literary Supplement: 28.
(2001) "Review of Freedom and Responsibility by Hilary Bok", Mind 110: 432-438.
(2001) "Review of Persons and Causes: The Metaphysics of Free Will by Timothy O'Connor", Mind 110: 526-531.
(2003) "Review of Freedom Evolves by Daniel Dennett", Journal of Philosophy 100: 632-637.
(2006) "Review of Facing Death: Epicurus and His Critics by James Warren", The Classical Review 56: 67-69.
(2007) "Review of In Praise of Blame by George Sher", Times Literary Supplement:30.
(2008) "Review of Free Will and Luck by Alfred Mele", Mind 117: 187-191.
(2009) "Review of Annihilation: The Sense and Significance of Death by Christopher Belshaw" (with Anthony Brueckner), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
Books
(1998) Responsibility and Control: A Theory of Moral Responsibility (with Mark Ravizza, Cambridge University Press).
(2007) Free Will: Four Views (with Robert Kane, Derk Pereboom, and Manuel Vargas, Blackwell Publishers).
(2013) Tod, Unsterblichkeit, und der Sinn des Lebens [Death, Immortality, and the Meaning of Life: A Selection of Essays by John Martin Fischer] (Translated and with an introduction by Machael Quante, Mentis Publishers).
(2016) Near Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife (with Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin, Oxford University Press).
Edited Books
(1993) The Metaphysics of Death (Stanford University Press).
(1993) Perspectives on Moral Responsibility (with Mark Ravizza, Cornell University Press).
(2005) Free Will, volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4. (Routledge).
(2007) Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings (with John Perry and Michael Bratman, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th editions, Oxford University press).
(2015) Freedom, Fatalism, and Foreknowledge (with Patrick Todd, Oxford University Press).
Interviews and Lectures
Philosophy Talk: The Program that Questions Everything:
(2005) Is Free Will an Illusion?
(2017) The Lure of Immortality
Related posts/shows/blogs
(2014) Moscow Center for Consciousness Summer School Lectures (syllabus here):
Interview with Moscow Center for Consciousness.
(2015) Libertarianism and the Problem of Flip-Flopping, Lecture for Humanities Institute at Scripps College.
(2018) Near-Death Experiences: The Stories They Tell, Presidential Lecture at University of California, Riverside.
(2019) Near-Death Experiences: A New Interpretation, Lecture at Washington State University.
(2019) Near-Death Experiences: What We Know About Death, Immortality, and Near-Death Experiences, Interview with University of California, Riverside.
(2019) Another Philosopher Tries to Debunk NDEs, Interview with Alex Tsakiris of Skeptiko. (Podcast here; Video here.)
(2019) Death, Immortality, and Meaning in Life, Interview with Michael Shermer on Science Salon podcast.
(2020) Would You Choose to Live Forever? The Question of Immortality, Interview with Oxford University Press. Follow-up Q&A session here. Handout here.
(2020) Near-death Experiences and Meaning in Life, Discussion with the University of California, Riverside.
(2020) Fatalism, Foreknowledge, and Determinism, Interview Taylor Cyr and Matt Flummer on The Free Will Show.