Abstract
Peter M. S. Hacker addresses the concepts of “Fatalism and Freedom” and performs a thorough analysis of the language in which these concepts are used. An examination of the notion of freedom shows the collocations and phraseology with which it is intertwined and which represent their meaningful forms of expression. By using this analytical method, the author shows how freedom is related to notions of decision, possibility and opportunity and illustrates how language games determine our options for action. Moreover, the chapter contains an analysis of several fallacies and reveals how they emerge if wrong conclusions are drawn from correct premises. Hacker’s explanations are supplemented by numerous examples from different contexts, such as history, religion, mythology and poetry.
