Determinism Free will and Predestination - Ancient Greek Philosophy, Jews, Christians, And Muslims, Scholastic Christian Thought, Reformation And Counter-reformation
freedom contemporary
The concept of "free will" developed slowly. Discussions of the "will" arose only when ancient philosophical descriptions of intentional action came into contact with religious concerns about human and divine freedom. The predominant contemporary understanding of freedom as a completely undetermined choice between any two alternatives was introduced at the end of the Middle Ages. It is not clear how to reconcile free will with modern and contemporary science.
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Although Aristotle is not overly concerned with determinism, he does stress that human action requires contingency. Practical knowledge is about those events that can be changed by human action. His discussion of how future contingents are known reflects this connection and becomes important in later discussions. For Aristotle, the statement that there will be a sea battle tomorrow is neither true…
Although the word voluntas existed previously, Augustine was the first to use it similarly to the way in which the word "will" is now used. He underwent an intellectual conversion to Christianity without at first changing his behavior. Consequently, he
was compelled to reconsider the problem of incontinence. According to Augustine, the explanation of why someone is unable to do what…
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) attempted to harmonize Augustine's account of predestination and human freedom with Aristotle's understanding of human action. Following John Damascene, Aquinas describes the will as a rational appetite. Although humans cannot choose whether to desire the ultimate end, namely happiness, they can choose between different proximate goods. He distinguis…
Martin Luther's (1483–1546) theological education exposed him to a largely Ockhamist understanding of human freedom and predestination. He reacted strongly against this approach by denying that the human will is significantly free apart from grace and apparently by holding that predestination and reprobation are parallel. Although medieval theologians had described this position as p…
In the seventeenth century modern science seemed to provide a mechanistic understanding of the world that threatened human freedom. René Descartes (1596–1650), the father of modern philosophy, held a dualistic theory whereby physical events are determined although human actions have a liberty of indifference because the soul is not material. In general, modern and contemporary philosop…
Adams, Marilyn McCord. William Ockham. 2 vols. Publications in Medieval Studies 26. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1987. Compares Ockham with Thomas Aquinas and Scotus. Bourke, Vernon. Will in Western Thought: An Historico-Critical Survey. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1964. Burrell, David B. Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press,…
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