'Catharism was a popular medieval heresy based on the belief that the creation of humankind was a disaster in which angelic spirits were trapped in matter by the devil. Their only goal was to escape the body through purification. Cathars denied any value to material life, including the human

body, baptism, and the Eucharist, even marriage and childbirth. What could explain the long popularity of such a bleak faith in the towns of southern France and Italy?

Power and Purity explores the place of cathar heresy in the life of the medieval Italian town of Orvieto. Based on extensive archival research, it details the social makeup of the Cathar community and argues that the heresy was central to the social and political changes of the 13th century. The

late 13th-century repression of Catharism by a local inquisition was part of a larger redefinition of civic and ecclesiastical authority. Author Carol Lansing shows that the faith attracted not an alienated older nobility but artisans, merchants, popular political leaders, and indeed circles of

women in Orvieto as well as Florence and Bologna. Cathar beliefs were not so much a pessimistic anomaly as a part of a larger climate of religious doubt. The teachings on the body and the practice of Cathar holy persons addressed questions of sexual difference and the structure of authority that

were key elements of medieval Italian life. The pure lives of the Cathar holy people, both male and female, demonstrated a human capacity for self-restraint that served as a powerful social model in towns torn by violent conflict. This study addresses current debates about the rise of persecution,

and argues for a climate of popular toleration. Power and Purity will appeal to historians of society and politics as well as religion and gender studies.'

"Excellent anthology!"--James Coley, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

"An excellent collection."--Susan Sauve, Harvard University

"Excellent--exactly what I need for my free will course."--George B. Thomas, University of Virginia

"Outstanding and much needed."--Don Garrett, University of Utah

"An excellent collection of recent work on the ever-perplexing issues of mechanism and free will."--Lynne Rudder Baker, Middlebury College

This volume brings together contributions to the topic of free will during the second half of the 20th century as well as some cutting-edge research. Topics explored include: the relation between free will, and responsibility and various accounts of the capacity for free agency.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [455]-457) and index.

The new edition of this highly successful text will once again provide the ideal introduction to free will. This volume brings together some of the most influential contributions to the topic of free will during the past 50 years, as well as some notable recent work.

Introduction, Gary Watson

1. Human Freedom and the Self, Roderick M. Chisholm

2. An Argument for Incompatibilism, Peter van Inwagen

3. Free Will, Praise and Blame, J.J.C Smart

4. Freedom and Resentment, Peter Strawson

5. Towards a Reasonable Libertarianism, David Wiggins

6. Are We Free to Break the Laws?, David Lewis

7. Freedom and Practical Reason, Hilary Bok

8. Alternative Possibilities and Moral Responsibility, Harry G. Frankfurt

9. Libertarianism and Frankfurt's Attack on the Principle of Alternative Possibilities, David Widerker

10. Frankfurt-Style Compatibilism, John Martin Fischer

11. The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility, Galen Strawson

12. Freedom, Thomas Nagel

13. Agent Causation, Timothy O'Connor

14. Toward a Credible Agent-Causal Account of Free Will, Randolph Clarke

15. Responsibility, Luck, and Chance: Reflections on Free Will and Indeterminism, Robert Kane

16. Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person, Harry G. Frankfurt

17. Free Agency, Gary Watson

18. The Significance of Choice, T.M. Scanlon

19. Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility, Susan Wolf

20. Freedom in Belief and Desire, Philip Pettit and Michael Smith

21. Freedom of Will and Freedom of Action, Rogers Albritton

22. Addiction as Defect of the Will: Some Philosophical Reflections, R. Jay Wallace

Notes on the contributors

Selected bibliography

Index of names