Disputation is a genre of literature involving two contenders who seek to establish a resolution to a problem or establish the superiority of something. An example of the latter is in Sumerian disputation poems .
127-514: In the scholastic system of education of the Middle Ages , disputations (in Latin : disputationes , singular: disputatio ) offered a formalized method of debate designed to uncover and establish truths in theology and in sciences . Fixed rules governed the process: they demanded dependence on traditional written authorities and the thorough understanding of each argument on each side. In
254-483: A false dilemma . Different compatibilists offer very different definitions of what "free will" means and consequently find different types of constraints to be relevant to the issue. Classical compatibilists considered free will nothing more than freedom of action, considering one free of will simply if, had one counterfactually wanted to do otherwise, one could have done otherwise without physical impediment. Many contemporary compatibilists instead identify free will as
381-721: A prime mover with the Latin Catholic dogmatic trinitarian theology, these monastic schools became the basis of the earliest European medieval universities , and thus became the bedrock for the development of modern science and philosophy in the Western world. Scholasticism dominated education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. The rise of scholasticism was closely associated with these schools that flourished in Italy , France , Portugal , Spain and England . Scholasticism
508-413: A Catholic and a Lutheran interpretation. Naturally, it was unsatisfactory to both parties. The Holy See condemned it and administered a severe rebuke to Contarini for not protesting against it. No greater success was attained as to the other articles of importance. On 22 May the conference ended, and the emperor was informed as to the articles agreed upon and those on which agreement was impossible. Charles
635-518: A choice or volition – a willing, trying, or endeavoring on behalf of the agent (such as the cognitive component of lifting one's arm). Such intentional actions are interpreted as free actions. It has been suggested, however, that such acting cannot be said to exercise control over anything in particular. According to non-causal accounts, the causation by the agent cannot be analysed in terms of causation by mental states or events, including desire, belief, intention of something in particular, but rather
762-417: A conscious being). While determinism usually refers to a naturalistically explainable causality of events, predeterminism seems by definition to suggest a person or a "someone" who is controlling or planning the causality of events before they occur and who then perhaps resides beyond the natural, causal universe. Predestination asserts that a supremely powerful being has indeed fixed all events and outcomes in
889-403: A deterministic universe is known as the problem of free will or sometimes referred to as the dilemma of determinism . This dilemma leads to a moral dilemma as well: the question of how to assign responsibility for actions if they are caused entirely by past events. Compatibilists maintain that mental reality is not of itself causally effective. Classical compatibilists have addressed
1016-496: A different problem for free will. Hard determinism is the claim that determinism is true, and that it is incompatible with free will , so free will does not exist. Although hard determinism generally refers to nomological determinism (see causal determinism below), it can include all forms of determinism that necessitate the future in its entirety. Relevant forms of determinism include: Other forms of determinism are more relevant to compatibilism, such as biological determinism ,
1143-561: A dispute on 28 theological and 12 philosophical theses. He was successful in winning over Johannes Brenz and the Dominican Martin Bucer . Johann Eck became involved in a literary contest with Andreas Karlstadt and challenged his adversary to a public debate. In Leipzig , although the faculty of the university entered a protest, and the Bishops of Merseburg and Brandenburg launched prohibitions and an excommunication,
1270-594: A form of both theological and philosophical debate and proselytization . Often, the Christian side was represented by a recent convert from Judaism. The only way for the Jewish side to 'win' was to force a draw by drawing the Christian side into a position in which it was necessary to deny the Old Testament to win, committing heresy . According to Michael J. Cook, "Since 'winning' a debate could well jeopardize
1397-503: A given set of circumstances. Accounts of libertarianism subdivide into non-physical theories and physical or naturalistic theories. Non-physical theories hold that the events in the brain that lead to the performance of actions do not have an entirely physical explanation, which requires that the world is not closed under physics. This includes interactionist dualism , which claims that some non-physical mind , will, or soul overrides physical causality . Physical determinism implies there
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#17327650214451524-554: A major focus of philosophical debate. The view that posits free will as incompatible with determinism is called incompatibilism and encompasses both metaphysical libertarianism (the claim that determinism is false and thus free will is at least possible) and hard determinism (the claim that determinism is true and thus free will is not possible). Another incompatibilist position is hard incompatibilism , which holds not only determinism but also indeterminism to be incompatible with free will and thus free will to be impossible whatever
1651-412: A new causal chain. But this is impossible. Man cannot create himself or his mental states ex nihilo . This argument entails that free will itself is absurd, but not that it is incompatible with determinism. Strawson calls his own view "pessimism" but it can be classified as hard incompatibilism . Causal determinism is the concept that events within a given paradigm are bound by causality in such
1778-426: A non-physical entity on physical reality. Indeterministic physical models (particularly those involving quantum indeterminacy ) introduce random occurrences at an atomic or subatomic level. These events might affect brain activity, and could seemingly allow incompatibilist free will if the apparent indeterminacy of some mental processes (for instance, subjective perceptions of control in conscious volition ) map to
1905-407: A power, or ability, to prefer or choose". The contemporary philosopher Galen Strawson agrees with Locke that the truth or falsity of determinism is irrelevant to the problem. He argues that the notion of free will leads to an infinite regress and is therefore senseless. According to Strawson, if one is responsible for what one does in a given situation, then one must be responsible for the way one
2032-530: A psychological capacity, such as to direct one's behavior in a way responsive to reason, and there are still further different conceptions of free will, each with their own concerns, sharing only the common feature of not finding the possibility of determinism a threat to the possibility of free will. The problem of free will has been identified in ancient Greek philosophical literature. The notion of compatibilist free will has been attributed to both Aristotle (4th century BCE) and Epictetus (1st century CE): "it
2159-484: A question to the teacher unannounced – disputationes de quodlibet . In this case, the teacher responded and the students rebutted; on the following day the teacher, having used notes taken during the disputation, summarised all arguments and presented his final position, riposting all rebuttals. The quaestio method of reasoning was initially used especially when two authoritative texts seemed to contradict one another. Two contradictory propositions would be considered in
2286-411: A range of works by William of Conches that attempted to reconcile the use of classical pagan and philosophical sources in a medieval Christian concept using the kludge of integumentum , treating the obviously heretical surface meanings as coverings disguising a deeper (and more orthodox) truth. Abelard himself was condemned by Bernard of Clairvaux at the 1141 Council of Sens and William avoided
2413-455: A robot, then people must not have free will. This argument has been rejected by compatibilists such as Daniel Dennett on the grounds that, even if humans have something in common with these things, it remains possible and plausible that we are different from such objects in important ways. Another argument for incompatibilism is that of the "causal chain". Incompatibilism is key to the idealist theory of free will. Most incompatibilists reject
2540-409: A similar fate through systematic self-bowdlerization of his early work, but his commentaries and encyclopedic De Philosophia Mundi and Dragmaticon were miscredited to earlier scholars like Bede and widely disseminated. Anselm of Laon systematized the production of the gloss on Scripture, followed by the rise to prominence of dialectic (the middle subject of the medieval trivium ) in
2667-406: A way that any state (of an object or event) is completely determined by prior states. Causal determinism proposes that there is an unbroken chain of prior occurrences stretching back to the origin of the universe. Causal determinists believe that there is nothing uncaused or self-caused . The most common form of causal determinism is nomological determinism (or scientific determinism), the notion that
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#17327650214452794-482: Is a compatibilist and she has just sat down on the sofa, then she is committed to the claim that she could have remained standing, if she had so desired. But it follows from the consequence argument that, if Jane had remained standing, she would have either generated a contradiction, violated the laws of nature or changed the past. Hence, compatibilists are committed to the existence of "incredible abilities", according to Ginet and van Inwagen. One response to this argument
2921-400: Is a method of learning more than a philosophy or a theology, since it places a strong emphasis on dialectical reasoning to extend knowledge by inference and to resolve contradictions . Scholastic thought is also known for rigorous conceptual analysis and the careful drawing of distinctions. In the classroom and in writing, it often takes the form of explicit disputation ; a topic drawn from
3048-427: Is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. It is a concept based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the cosmos. Although often used interchangeably, the words "fate" and "destiny" have distinct connotations. Fate generally implies there is a set course that cannot be deviated from, and over which one has no control. Fate
3175-454: Is a set course that cannot be deviated from, but does not of itself make any claim with respect to the setting of that course (i.e., it does not necessarily conflict with incompatibilist free will). Free will if existent could be the mechanism by which that destined outcome is chosen (determined to represent destiny). Discussion regarding destiny does not necessitate the existence of supernatural powers. Logical determinism or determinateness
3302-421: Is already present in a deterministic world. Deliberative indeterminism asserts that the indeterminism is confined to an earlier stage in the decision process. This is intended to provide an indeterminate set of possibilities to choose from, while not risking the introduction of luck (random decision making). The selection process is deterministic, although it may be based on earlier preferences established by
3429-498: Is and the implications of whether it exists or not constitute some of the longest running debates of philosophy. Some conceive of free will as the ability to act beyond the limits of external influences or wishes. Some conceive free will to be the capacity to make choices undetermined by past events. Determinism suggests that only one course of events is possible, which is inconsistent with a libertarian model of free will. Ancient Greek philosophy identified this issue, which remains
3556-440: Is appealed to as supplying the "elbow room" that libertarians believe necessary. A first common objection to event-causal accounts is that the indeterminism could be destructive and could therefore diminish control by the agent rather than provide it (related to the problem of origination). A second common objection to these models is that it is questionable whether such indeterminism could add any value to deliberation over that which
3683-421: Is associated with non-materialist constructions, including both traditional dualism , as well as models supporting more minimal criteria; such as the ability to consciously veto an action or competing desire. Yet even with physical indeterminism , arguments have been made against libertarianism in that it is difficult to assign Origination (responsibility for "free" indeterministic choices). Free will here
3810-420: Is assumed power to intervene in the physical world. Agent (substance)-causal accounts have been suggested by both George Berkeley and Thomas Reid . It is required that what the agent causes is not causally determined by prior events. It is also required that the agent's causing of that event is not causally determined by prior events. A number of problems have been identified with this view. Firstly, it
3937-417: Is considered a matter of spontaneity and creativity. The exercise of intent in such intentional actions is not that which determines their freedom – intentional actions are rather self-generating. The "actish feel" of some intentional actions do not "constitute that event's activeness, or the agent's exercise of active control", rather they "might be brought about by direct stimulation of someone's brain, in
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4064-722: Is considered to be the pinnacle of scholastic, medieval, and Christian philosophy; it began while Aquinas was regent master at the studium provinciale of Santa Sabina in Rome, the forerunner of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas , Angelicum . Important work in the scholastic tradition has been carried on well past Aquinas's time, such as English scholastics Robert Grosseteste and his student Roger Bacon , and for instance by Francisco Suárez and Luis de Molina , and also among Lutheran and Reformed thinkers. The terms "scholastic" and "scholasticism" derive from
4191-431: Is difficult to establish the reason for any given choice by the agent, which suggests they may be random or determined by luck (without an underlying basis for the free will decision). Secondly, it has been questioned whether physical events can be caused by an external substance or mind – a common problem associated with interactionalist dualism . Hard incompatibilism is the idea that free will cannot exist, whether
4318-430: Is evident that observation may disturb the outcome of the observation itself, rendering limited our ability to identify causality. Niels Bohr , one of the main architects of quantum theory, suggested, however, that no connection could be made between indeterminism of nature and freedom of will. Agent/substance-causal accounts of incompatibilist free will rely upon substance dualism in their description of mind. The agent
4445-403: Is frequently taken to mean that human actions cannot interfere with (or have no bearing on) the outcomes of a pre-determined course of events, and that one's destiny was established externally (for example, exclusively by a creator deity). The concept of predeterminism is often argued by invoking causal determinism , implying that there is an unbroken chain of prior occurrences stretching back to
4572-811: Is illuminated by religious faith. Other important Franciscan scholastics were Duns Scotus , Peter Auriol and William of Ockham . By contrast, the Dominican order, a teaching order founded by St Dominic in 1215, to propagate and defend Christian doctrine, placed more emphasis on the use of reason and made extensive use of the new Aristotelian sources derived from the East and Moorish Spain. The great representatives of Dominican thinking in this period were Albertus Magnus and (especially) Thomas Aquinas , whose artful synthesis of Greek rationalism and Christian doctrine eventually came to define Catholic philosophy. Aquinas placed more emphasis on reason and argumentation, and
4699-421: Is in certain mental respects. But it is impossible for one to be responsible for the way one is in any respect. This is because to be responsible in some situation S , one must have been responsible for the way one was at S . To be responsible for the way one was at S , one must have been responsible for the way one was at S , and so on. At some point in the chain, there must have been an act of origination of
4826-409: Is only one possible future and is therefore not compatible with libertarian free will. As consequent of incompatibilism, metaphysical libertarian explanations that do not involve dispensing with physicalism require physical indeterminism, such as probabilistic subatomic particle behavior – theory unknown to many of the early writers on free will. Incompatibilist theories can be categorised based on
4953-421: Is perhaps more relevant. Despite this, hard determinism has grown less popular in present times, given scientific suggestions that determinism is false – yet the intention of their position is sustained by hard incompatibilism. One kind of incompatibilism, metaphysical libertarianism holds onto a concept of free will that requires that the agent be able to take more than one possible course of action under
5080-520: Is predominantly treated with respect to physical determinism in the strict sense of nomological determinism , although other forms of determinism are also relevant to free will. For example, logical and theological determinism challenge metaphysical libertarianism with ideas of destiny and fate , and biological , cultural and psychological determinism feed the development of compatibilist models. Separate classes of compatibilism and incompatibilism may even be formed to represent these. Below are
5207-400: Is related to determinism , but makes no specific claim of physical determinism. Even with physical indeterminism an event could still be fated externally (see for instance theological determinism ). Destiny likewise is related to determinism, but makes no specific claim of physical determinism. Even with physical indeterminism an event could still be destined to occur. Destiny implies there
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5334-496: Is that if a person has free will, then they are the ultimate cause of their actions. If determinism is true, then all of a person's choices are caused by events and facts outside their control. So, if everything someone does is caused by events and facts outside their control, then they cannot be the ultimate cause of their actions. Therefore, they cannot have free will. This argument has also been challenged by various compatibilist philosophers. A third argument for incompatibilism
5461-601: Is that it equivocates on the notions of abilities and necessities, or that the free will evoked to make any given choice is really an illusion and the choice had been made all along, oblivious to its "decider". David Lewis suggests that compatibilists are only committed to the ability to do something otherwise if different circumstances had actually obtained in the past. Using T , F for "true" and "false" and ? for undecided, there are exactly nine positions regarding determinism/free will that consist of any two of these three possibilities: Incompatibilism may occupy any of
5588-485: Is the capacity or ability to choose between different possible courses of action . Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility , praise , culpability , and other judgements which apply only to actions that are freely chosen. It is also connected with the concepts of advice , persuasion , deliberation , and prohibition . Traditionally, only actions that are freely willed are seen as deserving credit or blame. Whether free will exists, what it
5715-414: Is the notion that all propositions, whether about the past, present, or future, are either true or false. This creates a unique problem for free will given that propositions about the future already have a truth value in the present (that is it is already determined as either true or false), and is referred to as the problem of future contingents . Omniscience is the capacity to know everything that there
5842-471: Is to know (included in which are all future events), and is a property often attributed to a creator deity. Omniscience implies the existence of destiny. Some authors have claimed that free will cannot coexist with omniscience. One argument asserts that an omniscient creator not only implies destiny but a form of high level predeterminism such as hard theological determinism or predestination – that they have independently fixed all events and outcomes in
5969-545: The Eucharist . Eck and Melanchthon battled four days over the topic of original sin and its consequences, and a formula was drafted to which both parties agreed, the Protestants with a reservation. At this point Granvella suspended the conference, to be resumed at Regensburg , whither the emperor had summoned a diet, which he promised to attend in person. This diet, from which the emperor anticipated brilliant results,
6096-539: The Franciscans and the Dominicans . The Franciscans were founded by Francis of Assisi in 1209. Their leader in the middle of the century was Bonaventure , a traditionalist who defended the theology of Augustine and the philosophy of Plato , incorporating only a little of Aristotle in with the more neoplatonist elements. Following Anselm, Bonaventure supposed that reason can only discover truth when philosophy
6223-717: The Latin word scholasticus , the Latinized form of the Greek σχολαστικός ( scholastikos ), an adjective derived from σχολή ( scholē ), " school ". Scholasticus means "of or pertaining to schools". The "scholastics" were, roughly, "schoolmen". The foundations of Christian scholasticism were laid by Boethius through his logical and theological essays, and later forerunners (and then companions) to scholasticism were Islamic Ilm al-Kalām , meaning "science of discourse", and Jewish philosophy , especially Jewish Kalam . The first significant renewal of learning in
6350-514: The University of Erfurt declined to intervene and returned the documents; the University of Paris sat in judgment upon Luther's writings, attaching to each of his opinions theological censure . Luther gained the support of Melanchthon . The Leipzig Disputation was the last occasion on which the ancient custom of swearing to advance no tenet contrary to Catholic doctrine was observed. In all subsequent debates between Catholics and Protestants,
6477-411: The ability to make rational decisions. A different approach to the dilemma is that of incompatibilists , namely, that if the world is deterministic, then our feeling that we are free to choose an action is simply an illusion . Metaphysical libertarianism is the form of incompatibilism which posits that determinism is false and free will is possible (at least some people have free will). This view
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#17327650214456604-573: The actus essendi or act of existence of finite beings by participating in being itself. Other scholars such as those involved with the "Progetto Tommaso" seek to establish an objective and universal reading of Aquinas' texts. Thomistic scholasticism in the English speaking world went into decline in the 1970s when the Thomistic revival that had been spearheaded by Jacques Maritain , Étienne Gilson , and others, diminished in influence. Partly, this
6731-423: The ancient Near East , disputation was a popular genre of literature that went back at least to the mid-3rd millennium BC with the onset of Sumerian disputations, followed by the first Akkadian-language disputations which began in the 18th century BC. Sumerian and Akkadian language disputations had some discontinuity, insofar as different topics were discussed, different literary conventions were used, and none of
6858-408: The quaestio students could ask questions ( quaestiones ) that might have occurred to them during meditatio . Eventually the discussion of questiones became a method of inquiry apart from the lectio and independent of authoritative texts. Disputationes were arranged to resolve controversial quaestiones . Questions to be disputed were ordinarily announced beforehand, but students could propose
6985-412: The uncertainty principle . The relevance of such prospective indeterminate activity to free will is, however, contested, even when chaos theory is introduced to magnify the effects of such microscopic events. Below these positions are examined in more detail. Determinism can be divided into causal, logical and theological determinism. Corresponding to each of these different meanings, there arises
7112-413: The "Book" was presented to the collocutors by Granvella for consideration. The first four articles, treating of man before the fall, free will, the origin of sin, and original sin, were accepted. The battle began in earnest when the fifth article, on justification, was reached. After long and vehement debates, a formula was presented by Bucer and accepted by the majority, so worded as to be capable of bearing
7239-657: The 12th century also included figures like Constantine the African in Italy and James of Venice in Constantinople. Scholars such as Adelard of Bath traveled to Spain and Sicily, translating works on astronomy and mathematics, including the first complete translation of Euclid 's Elements into Latin. At the same time, the School of Chartres produced Bernard of Chartres 's commentaries on Plato 's Timaeus and
7366-635: The Greek language and translated many works into Latin, affording access to the Cappadocian Fathers and the Greek theological tradition . Three other primary founders of scholasticism were the 11th-century archbishops Lanfranc and Anselm of Canterbury in England and Peter Abelard in France . This period saw the beginning of the " rediscovery " of many Greek works which had been lost to
7493-668: The Islamic world, including one between a pen and a sword, attributed to Ahmad Ibn Burd al-Asghar in the 11th century. Martin Luther opened the Protestant Reformation by demanding a disputation upon his 95 theses , 31 October 1517. Although presented as a call to an ordinary scholastic dispute, there is no evidence that such an event ever took place. During a convention held at Heidelberg in April 1518, Luther directed
7620-632: The Latin West. As early as the latter half of the 10th century, the Toledo School of Translators in Muslim Spain had begun translating Arabic texts into Latin. After a successful burst of Reconquista in the 12th century, Spain opened even further for Christian scholars and, as these Europeans encountered Judeo-Islamic philosophies , they opened a wealth of Arab and Judaic knowledge of mathematics and astronomy. The Latin translations of
7747-536: The Protestants. A document of mysterious origin, the Regensburg Book , was presented by Joachim of Brandenburg as the basis of agreement. This compilation, it developed later, was the result of secret conferences, held during the meeting at Worms, between the Protestants, Bucer and Wolfgang Capito , on one side, and the Lutheranizing Gropper and a secretary of the emperor named Veltwick on
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#17327650214457874-551: The Reformation, Calvinists largely adopted the scholastic method of theology, while differing regarding sources of authority and content of theology. The revival and development from the second half of the 19th century of medieval scholastic philosophy is sometimes called neo- Thomism . As J. A. Weisheipl O.P. emphasizes, within the Dominican Order Thomistic scholasticism has been continuous since
8001-675: The West came with the Carolingian Renaissance of the Early Middle Ages . Charlemagne , advised by Peter of Pisa and Alcuin of York , attracted the scholars of England and Ireland, where some Greek works continued to survive in the original. By a 787 decree, he established schools at every abbey in his empire. These schools, from which the name scholasticism derived, became centers of medieval learning. During this period, knowledge of Ancient Greek had vanished in
8128-592: The West except in Ireland, where its teaching and use was fairly common in its monastic schools . Irish scholars had a considerable presence in the Frankish court , where they were renowned for their learning. Among them was Johannes Scotus Eriugena (815–877), one of the founders of scholasticism. Eriugena was the most significant Irish intellectual of the early monastic period and an outstanding philosopher in terms of originality. He had considerable familiarity with
8255-533: The absence of any relevant desire or intention on the part of that person". Another question raised by such non-causal theory, is how an agent acts upon reason, if the said intentional actions are spontaneous. Some non-causal explanations involve invoking panpsychism , the theory that a quality of mind is associated with all particles, and pervades the entire universe, in both animate and inanimate entities. Event-causal accounts of incompatibilist free will typically rely upon physicalist models of mind (like those of
8382-465: The authority of the Roman pontiff and "would admit no other judge of the controversy than Jesus Christ"; both Pope Paul III and Luther predicted failure. However, since the emperor and his brother, King Ferdinand , persisted in making a trial, the pope authorized his nuncio, Giovanni Morone , to proceed to Speyer , whither the meeting had been summoned for June 1540. As the plague was raging in that city
8509-526: The bare text of Holy Writ was taken as the authority. This placed the Catholics in a disadvantageous position. This was particularly the case in Switzerland, where Zwingli and his lieutenants organized a number of one-sided debates under the presidency of town councils already won over to Protestantism. Such were the disputations of Zurich, 1523, of Swiss Baden, 1526, and of Berne, 1528. In all of these
8636-598: The behaviour of a set of dominoes to neural activity in the brain where; "If the brain is nothing but a complex physical object whose states are as much governed by physical laws as any other physical object, then what goes on in our heads is as fixed and determined by prior events as what goes on when one domino topples another in a long row of them." Physical determinism is currently disputed by prominent interpretations of quantum mechanics , and while not necessarily representative of intrinsic indeterminism in nature, fundamental limits of precision in measurement are inherent in
8763-446: The case may be regarding determinism. In contrast, compatibilists hold that free will is compatible with determinism. Some compatibilists even hold that determinism is necessary for free will, arguing that choice involves preference for one course of action over another, requiring a sense of how choices will turn out. Compatibilists thus consider the debate between libertarians and hard determinists over free will vs. determinism
8890-589: The classic arguments bearing upon the dilemma and its underpinnings. Incompatibilism is the position that free will and determinism are logically incompatible, and that the major question regarding whether or not people have free will is thus whether or not their actions are determined. "Hard determinists", such as d'Holbach , are those incompatibilists who accept determinism and reject free will. In contrast, " metaphysical libertarians ", such as Thomas Reid , Peter van Inwagen , and Robert Kane , are those incompatibilists who accept free will and deny determinism, holding
9017-422: The compatibilist), yet they presuppose physical indeterminism, in which certain indeterministic events are said to be caused by the agent. A number of event-causal accounts of free will have been created, referenced here as deliberative indeterminism , centred accounts , and efforts of will theory . The first two accounts do not require free will to be a fundamental constituent of the universe. Ordinary randomness
9144-620: The conference took place in Hagenau . Neither the Elector of Saxony nor the Landgrave of Hesse could be induced to attend. Melanchthon was absent through illness. The leading Protestant theologians at the conference were Bucer, Brenz, Oswald Myconius , Ambrosius Blarer , and Urbanus Rhegius . The most prominent on the Catholic side were Johann Faber , Bishop of Vienna , and Eck. Present
9271-471: The context of its capacity to determine future events. Despite this, predeterminism is often considered as independent of causal determinism. The term predeterminism is also frequently used in the context of biology and heredity, in which case it represents a form of biological determinism . The term predeterminism suggests not just a determining of all events, but the prior and deliberately conscious determining of all events (therefore done, presumably, by
9398-413: The determination of outcome as their physical processes (see non-reductive physicalism ). Although at the time quantum mechanics (and physical indeterminism ) was only in the initial stages of acceptance, in his book Miracles: A preliminary study C.S. Lewis stated the logical possibility that if the physical world were proved indeterministic this would provide an entry point to describe an action of
9525-468: The dilemma of free will by arguing that free will holds as long as humans are not externally constrained or coerced. Modern compatibilists make a distinction between freedom of will and freedom of action , that is, separating freedom of choice from the freedom to enact it. Given that humans all experience a sense of free will, some modern compatibilists think it is necessary to accommodate this intuition. Compatibilists often associate freedom of will with
9652-460: The disputation took place under the ægis of Duke George of Saxony . Eck came to Leipzig with one attendant; Luther and Karlstadt entered the city accompanied by an army of adherents, mostly students. From 27 June to 4 July (1519) Eck and Karlstadt debated the subject of free will and our ability to cooperate with grace. Eck forced his antagonist to make admissions which stultified the new Lutheran doctrine, whereupon Luther himself came forward to assail
9779-429: The dogma of Roman supremacy by divine right . The debate on papal primacy was succeeded by discussions of purgatory , indulgences , penance , etc. On 14 and 15 July, Karlstadt resumed the debate on free will and good works . Finally, Duke George declared the disputation closed, and each of the contendents departed, as usual, claiming victory. Of the two universities to which the final decision had been reserved,
9906-429: The early Greek stoics (for example, Chrysippus ), and some modern philosophers lament the lack of progress over all these centuries. On one hand, humans have a strong sense of freedom, which leads them to believe that they have free will. On the other hand, an intuitive feeling of free will could be mistaken. It is difficult to reconcile the intuitive evidence that conscious decisions are causally effective with
10033-476: The era between the deaths of William of Ockham and Nicholas of Cusa , there was a distinct period characterized by "robust and independent philosophers" who departed from high scholasticism on issues such as institutional criticism and materialism but retained scholasticism's method. These philosophers include Marsilius of Padua , Thomas Bradwardine , John Wycliffe , Catherine of Sienna , Jean Gerson , Gabriel Biel and ended with Nicholas of Cusa. Following
10160-433: The first of all nations in fidelity, religion, piety, and divine worship", and warned his hearers that "all the evils that shall come upon you and your people, if, by clinging stubbornly to preconceived notions, you prevent a renewal of concord, will be ascribed to you as the authors of them." On behalf of the Protestants, Melanchthon returned "an intrepid answer"; he threw all the blame upon the Catholics, who refused to accept
10287-412: The form of an either/or question, and each part of the question would have to be approved ( sic ) or denied ( non ). Arguments for the position taken would be presented in turn, followed by arguments against the position, and finally the arguments against would be refuted. This method forced scholars to consider opposing viewpoints and defend their own arguments against them. Free will Free will
10414-417: The high period of scholasticism. The early 13th century witnessed the culmination of the recovery of Greek philosophy . Schools of translation grew up in Italy and Sicily, and eventually in the rest of Europe. Powerful Norman kings gathered men of knowledge from Italy and other areas into their courts as a sign of their prestige. William of Moerbeke 's translations and editions of Greek philosophical texts in
10541-511: The idea that all behaviors, beliefs, and desires are fixed by our genetic endowment and our biochemical makeup, the latter of which is affected by both genes and environment, cultural determinism and psychological determinism . Combinations and syntheses of determinist theses, such as bio-environmental determinism, are even more common. Suggestions have been made that hard determinism need not maintain strict determinism, where something near to, like that informally known as adequate determinism ,
10668-410: The idea that freedom of action consists simply in "voluntary" behavior. They insist, rather, that free will means that someone must be the "ultimate" or "originating" cause of his actions. They must be causa sui , in the traditional phrase. Being responsible for one's choices is the first cause of those choices, where first cause means that there is no antecedent cause of that cause. The argument, then,
10795-450: The incompatibility of omnipotence with a good creator deity (i.e. if a deity knew what they were going to choose, then they are responsible for letting them choose it). Predeterminism is the idea that all events are determined in advance. Predeterminism is the philosophy that all events of history , past, present and future, have been decided or are known (by God , fate , or some other force), including human actions. Predeterminism
10922-448: The indeterminacy of agent volition processes could map to the indeterminacy of certain physical events – and the outcomes of these events could therefore be considered caused by the agent. Models of volition have been constructed in which it is seen as a particular kind of complex, high-level process with an element of physical indeterminism. An example of this approach is that of Robert Kane , where he hypothesizes that "in each case,
11049-479: The indeterminism is functioning as a hindrance or obstacle to her realizing one of her purposes – a hindrance or obstacle in the form of resistance within her will which must be overcome by effort." According to Robert Kane such "ultimate responsibility" is a required condition for free will. An important factor in such a theory is that the agent cannot be reduced to physical neuronal events, but rather mental processes are said to provide an equally valid account of
11176-843: The later Akkadian disputations appear to be translations of earlier Sumerian disputations. The two most well-attested Sumerian disputations are the Debate between the hoe and the plough and the Debate between sheep and grain . Many disputations were composed in the Syriac language , including the Dispute Between the Cherub and the Thief and the Dispute Between Heaven and Earth . A significant category of disputations took place between Christian and Jewish theologians as
11303-468: The middle half of the thirteenth century helped form a clearer picture of Greek philosophy, particularly of Aristotle, than was given by the Arabic versions on which they had previously relied. Edward Grant writes "Not only was the structure of the Arabic language radically different from that of Latin, but some Arabic versions had been derived from earlier Syriac translations and were thus twice removed from
11430-454: The necessary consequences of the past and the laws of nature, then we have no control over them and, hence, no free will. This is called the consequence argument . Peter van Inwagen remarks that C.D. Broad had a version of the consequence argument as early as the 1930s. The difficulty of this argument for some compatibilists lies in the fact that it entails the impossibility that one could have chosen other than one has. For example, if Jane
11557-566: The new Gospel. A great deal of time was spent in wrangling over points of order; finally it was decided that Eck should be spokesman for the Catholics and Melanchthon for the Protestants. The debate began 14 January 1541. The Augsburg Confession as the basis of the conference; the Augsburg Confession of 1540 was a different document from the Confession of 1530, having been changed by Melanchthon to suit his sacramentarian view of
11684-517: The nine positions except (5), (8) or (3), which last corresponds to soft determinism . Position (1) is hard determinism , and position (2) is libertarianism . The position (1) of hard determinism adds to the table the contention that D implies FW is untrue, and the position (2) of libertarianism adds the contention that FW implies D is untrue. Position (9) may be called hard incompatibilism if one interprets ? as meaning both concepts are of dubious value. Compatibilism itself may occupy any of
11811-414: The nine positions, that is, there is no logical contradiction between determinism and free will, and either or both may be true or false in principle. However, the most common meaning attached to compatibilism is that some form of determinism is true and yet we have some form of free will, position (3). Alex Rosenberg makes an extrapolation of physical determinism as inferred on the macroscopic scale by
11938-406: The origin of the universe. In the case of predeterminism, this chain of events has been pre-established, and human actions cannot interfere with the outcomes of this pre-established chain. Predeterminism can be used to mean such pre-established causal determinism, in which case it is categorised as a specific type of determinism . It can also be used interchangeably with causal determinism – in
12065-493: The original Greek text. Word-for-word translations of such Arabic texts could produce tortured readings. By contrast, the structural closeness of Latin to Greek, permitted literal, but intelligible, word-for-word translations." Universities developed in the large cities of Europe during this period, and rival clerical orders within the church began to battle for political and intellectual control over these centers of educational life. The two main orders founded in this period were
12192-531: The other. It consisted of twenty-three chapters, in which the attempt was made so to formulate the controverted doctrines that each party might find its own views therein expressed. How much Charles and Granvella had to do in the transaction, is unknown; they certainly knew and approved of it. The "Book" had been submitted by the Elector of Brandenburg to the judgment of Luther and Melanchthon; and their contemptuous treatment of it augured ill for its success. When it
12319-556: The papal court. The latter brought with him the Jesuit Peter Faber . The pope sent the Bishop of Feltre , Tommaso Campeggio , brother of the cardinal, and ordered Morone to attend. They were not to take part in the debates, but were to watch events closely and report to Rome. Granvella opened the proceedings at Worms, 25 November, with an eloquent and conciliatory address. He pictured the evils which had befallen Germany, "once
12446-660: The past and the present dictate the future entirely and necessarily by rigid natural laws, that every occurrence results inevitably from prior events. Quantum mechanics poses a serious challenge to this view. Fundamental debate continues over whether the physical universe is likely to be deterministic . Although the scientific method cannot be used to rule out indeterminism with respect to violations of causal closure , it can be used to identify indeterminism in natural law. Interpretations of quantum mechanics at present are both deterministic and indeterministic , and are being constrained by ongoing experimentation. Destiny or fate
12573-1095: The philosophical and theological tradition stretching back to the time of St. Thomas. It focuses not only on exegesis of the historical Aquinas but also on the articulation of a rigorous system of orthodox Thomism to be used as an instrument of critique of contemporary thought. Due to its suspicion of attempts to harmonize Aquinas with non-Thomistic categories and assumptions, Scholastic Thomism has sometimes been called, according to philosophers like Edward Feser , "Strict Observance Thomism". A discussion of recent and current Thomistic scholasticism can be found in La Metafisica di san Tommaso d'Aquino e i suoi interpreti (2002) by Battista Mondin [ it ] , which includes such figures as Sofia Vanni Rovighi (1908–1990), Cornelio Fabro (1911–1995), Carlo Giacon (1900–1984), Tomas Tyn O.P. (1950–1990), Abelardo Lobato O.P. (1925–2012), Leo Elders (1926– ) and Giovanni Ventimiglia (1964– ) among others. Fabro in particular emphasizes Aquinas' originality, especially with respect to
12700-434: The phrase "free will" made any sense (compare with theological noncognitivism , a similar stance on the existence of God ). He also took the view that the truth of determinism was irrelevant. He believed that the defining feature of voluntary behavior was that individuals have the ability to postpone a decision long enough to reflect or deliberate upon the consequences of a choice: "...the will in truth, signifies nothing but
12827-570: The result was the abolition of Catholic worship and in their opinion the desecration of churches and religious institutions. Emperor Charles V attempted to bring the religious troubles of Germany to a "speedy and peaceful termination" by conferences between the Catholic and the Protestant divines. The Protestants proclaimed their determination to adhere to the terms of the Augsburg Confession , and, in addition, formally repudiated
12954-459: The same process. Deliberative indeterminism has been referenced by Daniel Dennett and John Martin Fischer . An obvious objection to such a view is that an agent cannot be assigned ownership over their decisions (or preferences used to make those decisions) to any greater degree than that of a compatibilist model. Centred accounts propose that for any given decision between two possibilities,
13081-423: The security of the Jewish community at large, political considerations certainly entered into what Jewish disputants publicly said or refrained from saying. ... Official transcripts of these proceedings, moreover, may not duplicate what actually transpired; in some places what they record was not the live action, as it were, but Christian polemical revision composed after the fact." Some disputations also appeared in
13208-401: The strength of reason will be considered for each option, yet there is still a probability the weaker candidate will be chosen. An obvious objection to such a view is that decisions are explicitly left up to chance, and origination or responsibility cannot be assigned for any given decision. Efforts of will theory is related to the role of will power in decision making. It suggests that
13335-507: The subject, be it ancient or contemporary. The points of disagreement and contention between multiple sources would be written down in individual sentences or snippets of text, known as sententiae . Once the sources and points of disagreement had been laid out through a series of dialectics , the two sides of an argument would be made whole so that they would be found to be in agreement and not contradictory. (Of course, sometimes opinions would be totally rejected, or new positions proposed.) This
13462-846: The time of Aquinas: "Thomism was always alive in the Dominican Order, small as it was after the ravages of the Reformation, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic occupation. Repeated legislation of the General Chapters, beginning after the death of St. Thomas, as well as the Constitutions of the Order, required all Dominicans to teach the doctrine of St. Thomas both in philosophy and in theology." Thomistic scholasticism or scholastic Thomism identifies with
13589-410: The time – to show that contradictions did not exist but were subjective to the reader. Scholastic instruction consisted of several elements. The first was the lectio : a teacher would read an authoritative text followed by a commentary, but no questions were permitted. This was followed by the meditatio ( meditation or reflection) in which students reflected on and appropriated the text. Finally, in
13716-889: The tradition is broached in the form of a question, oppositional responses are given, a counterproposal is argued and oppositional arguments rebutted. Because of its emphasis on rigorous dialectical method, scholasticism was eventually applied to many other fields of study. Scholasticism was initially a program conducted by medieval Christian thinkers attempting to harmonize the various authorities of their own tradition, and to reconcile Christian theology with classical and late antiquity philosophy, especially that of Aristotle but also of Neoplatonism . The Scholastics, also known as Schoolmen , included as its main figures Anselm of Canterbury ("the father of scholasticism" ), Peter Abelard , Alexander of Hales , Albertus Magnus , Duns Scotus , William of Ockham , Bonaventure , and Thomas Aquinas . Aquinas's masterwork Summa Theologica (1265–1274)
13843-418: The type of indeterminism they require; uncaused events, non-deterministically caused events, and agent/substance-caused events. Non-causal accounts of incompatibilist free will do not require a free action to be caused by either an agent or a physical event. They either rely upon a world that is not causally closed, or physical indeterminism. Non-causal accounts often claim that each intentional action requires
13970-430: The underlying indeterminacy of the physical construct. This relationship, however, requires a causative role over probabilities that is questionable, and it is far from established that brain activity responsible for human action can be affected by such events. Secondarily, these incompatibilist models are dependent upon the relationship between action and conscious volition, as studied in the neuroscience of free will . It
14097-409: The universe in advance. In such a case, even if an individual could have influence over their lower level physical system, their choices in regard to this cannot be their own, as is the case with libertarian free will. Omniscience features as an incompatible-properties argument for the existence of God , known as the argument from free will , and is closely related to other such arguments, for example
14224-401: The view that some form of indeterminism is true. Another view is that of hard incompatibilists, which state that free will is incompatible with both determinism and indeterminism . Traditional arguments for incompatibilism are based on an " intuition pump ": if a person is like other mechanical things that are determined in their behavior such as a wind-up toy, a billiard ball, a puppet, or
14351-473: The view that the physical world can be explained entirely by physical law . The conflict between intuitively felt freedom and natural law arises when either causal closure or physical determinism ( nomological determinism ) is asserted. With causal closure, no physical event has a cause outside the physical domain, and with physical determinism, the future is determined entirely by preceding events (cause and effect). The puzzle of reconciling 'free will' with
14478-517: The work of Abelard . Peter Lombard produced a collection of Sentences , or opinions of the Church Fathers and other authorities. More recently, Leinsle , Novikoff , and others have argued against the idea that scholasticism primarily derived from philosophical contact, emphasizing its continuity with earlier Patristic Christianity . This remains, however, a minority viewpoint. The 13th and early 14th centuries are generally seen as
14605-438: The world is deterministic or not. Derk Pereboom has defended hard incompatibilism, identifying a variety of positions where free will is irrelevant to indeterminism/determinism, among them the following: Pereboom calls positions 3 and 4 soft determinism , position 1 a form of hard determinism , position 6 a form of classical libertarianism , and any position that includes having F as compatibilism . John Locke denied that
14732-511: Was John Calvin , then exiled from Geneva ; he appeared as confidential agent of the King of France. After a month, King Ferdinand prorogued the conference to reassemble at Worms on 28 October. Undismayed by the failure of the Hagenau conference, the emperor made more strenuous efforts for the success of the coming colloquy at Worms. He dispatched his minister Granvelle and Ortiz, his envoy, to
14859-466: Was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon Aristotelianism and the Ten Categories . Christian scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translated scholastic Judeo-Islamic philosophies , and "rediscovered" the collected works of Aristotle . Endeavoring to harmonize his metaphysics and its account of
14986-753: Was because this branch of Thomism had become a quest to understand the historical Aquinas after the Second Vatican Council . A renewed interest in the "scholastic" way of doing philosophy has recently awoken in the confines of the analytic philosophy . Attempts emerged to combine elements of scholastic and analytic methodology in pursuit of a contemporary philosophical synthesis. Proponents of various incarnations of this approach include Anthony Kenny , Peter King, Thomas Williams or David Oderberg . Cornelius O'Boyle explained that Scholasticism focuses on how to acquire knowledge and how to communicate effectively so that it may be acquired by others. It
15113-411: Was called to order 5 April 1541. As legate of the pope appeared Cardinal Contarini , assisted by the nuncio Morone. Calvin was present, ostensibly to represent Lüneburg , in reality to foster discord in the interest of France. As collocutors at the religious conference which met simultaneously, Charles appointed Eck, Pflug , and Gropper for the Catholic side, and Melanchthon, Bucer, and Pistorius for
15240-437: Was done in two ways. The first was through philological analysis. Words were examined and argued to have multiple meanings. It was also considered that the auctor might have intended a certain word to mean something different. Ambiguity could be used to find common ground between two otherwise contradictory statements. The second was through logical analysis, which relied on the rules of formal logic – as they were known at
15367-468: Was formulated by Carl Ginet in the 1960s and has received much attention in the modern literature. The simplified argument runs along these lines: if determinism is true, then we have no control over the events of the past that determined our present state and no control over the laws of nature. Since we can have no control over these matters, we also can have no control over the consequences of them. Since our present choices and acts, under determinism, are
15494-551: Was introduced by Christian philosophy (4th century CE). It has traditionally meant (until the Enlightenment proposed its own meanings) lack of necessity in human will, so that "the will is free" meant "the will does not have to be such as it is". This requirement was universally embraced by both incompatibilists and compatibilists. The underlying questions are whether we have control over our actions, and if so, what sort of control, and to what extent. These questions predate
15621-571: Was one of the first to use the new translation of Aristotle's metaphysical and epistemological writing. This was a significant departure from the Neoplatonic and Augustinian thinking that had dominated much of early scholasticism. Aquinas showed how it was possible to incorporate much of the philosophy of Aristotle without falling into the "errors" of the Commentator, Averroes . Philosopher Johann Beukes has suggested that from 1349 to 1464,
15748-475: Was shown to the legate and Morone, the latter was for rejecting it summarily; Contarini, after making a score of emendations, notably emphasizing in Article 14 the dogma of Transubstantiation , declared that now "as a private person" he could accept it; but as legate he must consult with the Catholic theologians. Eck secured the substitution of a conciser exposition of the doctrine of justification . Thus emended,
15875-589: Was sorely disappointed, but he was powerless to effect anything further. The decree known as the Regensburg Interim , published 28 July 1541, enjoining upon both sides the observance of the articles agreed upon by the theologians, was by both sides disregarded. Equally without result was the last of the conferences summoned by Charles at Regensburg, 1546, just prior to the outbreak of the Smalkaldic War . Scholasticism Scholasticism
16002-497: Was the fact that nothing hindered us from doing or choosing something that made us have control over them". According to Susanne Bobzien , the notion of incompatibilist free will is perhaps first identified in the works of Alexander of Aphrodisias (3rd century CE): "what makes us have control over things is the fact that we are causally undetermined in our decision and thus can freely decide between doing/choosing or not doing/choosing them". The term "free will" ( liberum arbitrium )
16129-458: Was thought that the best way to achieve this was by replicating the discovery process ( modus inveniendi ). The scholasticists would choose a book by a renowned scholar, auctor (author), as a subject for investigation. By reading it thoroughly and critically, the disciples learned to appreciate the theories of the author. Other documents related to the book would be referenced, such as Church councils, papal letters and anything else written on
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