more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
Liberty, which is but a power, belongs only to agents, and cannot be an attribute or modification of the will, which is also but a power.
Gist of Idea
Liberty is a power of agents, so can't be an attribute of wills
Source
John Locke (Essay Conc Human Understanding (2nd Ed) [1694], 2.21.14)
Book Ref
Locke,John: 'Essay Concerning Human Understanding', ed/tr. Nidditch,P.H. [OUP 1979], p.240
A Reaction
He is suggesting the 'free will' is a category mistake, but why shouldn't a power have a power? Magnetism can be strong, or focused. He is ducking the question of what ultimately controls the will.
| 1837 | We should not refer things to irresponsible necessity, but either to fortune or to our own will [Epicurus] |
| 5971 | Destiny is only a predisposing cause, not a sufficient cause [Chrysippus, by Plutarch] |
| 6214 | Liberty and necessity are consistent, as when water freely flows, by necessity [Hobbes] |
| 12492 | Liberty is a power of agents, so can't be an attribute of wills [Locke] |
| 12493 | A man is free insofar as he can act according to his own preferences [Locke] |
| 19368 | The will determines action, by what is seen as good, but it does not necessitate it [Leibniz] |
| 5031 | Everything which happens is not necessary, but is certain after God chooses this universe [Leibniz] |
| 2223 | Liberty is merely acting according to the will, which anyone can do if they are not in chains [Hume] |
| 3655 | Hume makes determinism less rigid by removing the necessity from causation [Trusted on Hume] |
| 15617 | In abstraction, beyond finitude, freedom and necessity must exist together [Hegel] |
| 6981 | Determinism clashes with free will, as the past determines action, and is beyond our control [Inwagen, by Jackson] |
| 6149 | Free will and determinism are incompatible, since determinism destroys human choice [Merricks] |