A Free Will: Origins of the Notion in Ancient Thought
Online ISBN:
9780520948372
Print ISBN:
9780520268487
Publisher:
University of California Press
Book
A Free Will: Origins of the Notion in Ancient Thought
Published:
2 January 2011
Online ISBN:
9780520948372
Print ISBN:
9780520268487
Publisher:
University of California Press
Cite
Frede, Michael, and Halszka Osmolska, A Free Will: Origins of the Notion in Ancient Thought (Oakland, CA , 2011; online edn, California Scholarship Online, 22 Mar. 2012), https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520268487.001.0001, accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
Abstract
Where does the notion of free will come from? How and when did it develop, and what did that development involve? In this book's account of the history of this idea, the notion of a free will emerged from powerful assumptions about the relation between divine providence, correctness of individual choice, and self-enslavement due to incorrect choice. Anchoring the discussion in Stoicism, the book begins with Aristotle—who, it argues, had no notion of a free will—and ends with Augustine. The book shows that Augustine, far from originating the idea (as is often claimed), derived most of his thinking about it from the Stoicism developed by Epictetus.
Keywords:
free will, divine providence, Epictetus, individual choice, self-enslavement, incorrect choice, Stoicism, Aristotle, Augustine
Subject
Classical Philosophy
Contents
-
Front Matter
-
One
Introduction
Michael Frede
-
Two
Aristotle on Choice without a Will
Michael Frede
-
Three
The Emergence of a Notion of Will in Stoicism
Michael Frede
-
Four
Later Platonist and Peripatetic Contributions
Michael Frede
-
Five
The Emergence of a Notion of a Free Will in Stoicism
Michael Frede
-
Six
Platonist and Peripatetic Criticisms and Responses
Michael Frede
-
Seven
An Early Christian View on a Free Will: Origen
Michael Frede
-
Eight
Reactions to the Stoic Notion of a Free Will: Plotinus
Michael Frede
-
Nine
Augustine: A Radically New Notion of a Free Will?
Michael Frede
-
Ten
Conclusion
Michael Frede
-
End Matter
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