A Free Will: Origins of the Notion in Ancient Thought
Michael Frede and Halszka Osmolska
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 think ... More
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
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2011 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780520268487 |
| Published to California Scholarship Online: March 2012 |
DOI:10.1525/california/9780520268487.001.0001 |
