'The problem first of clarifying and then of answering the question how far human thoughts and actions are subject to causality and whether this is consistent with their being free is one to which many different approaches have been made throughout the history of philosophy. I doubt if any of them has been the product of such intense research as Professor Honderich has devoted to the construction, the defence and the evaluation of his theory of determinism ... I think that his readiness to accept even the most startling implications of his views, the patience he displays in examining alternatives to them, his assiduity in setting out and trying to meet a wide range of objections are all highly creditable.'A.J. Ayer, London Review of Books

• I: Introduction: Necessary Connections and Three Hypotheses: Necessary Connections; Psychoneural Nomic Correlation; The Causation of Psychoneural Pairs; The Causation of Actions. II: The Truth of Theory: Neuroscience and Quantum Theory; Prediction and Knowledge.