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Full Idea
Homer left out another mental action lying between coming to a conclusion and acting on it; and he did well, since there is no such action, and the idea is the invention of bad philosophy.
Gist of Idea
The 'will' doesn't exist; there is just conclusion, then action
Source
report of Homer (The Iliad [c.850 BCE]) by Bernard Williams - Shame and Necessity II - p.37
Book Ref
Williams,Bernard: 'Shame and Necessity' [California 1994], p.37
A Reaction
This is a characteristically empiricist view, which is found in Hobbes. The 'will' seems to have a useful role in folk psychology. We can at least say that coming to a conclusion that I should act, and then actually acting, are not the same thing.
2170 | Homer does not distinguish between soul and body [Homer, by Williams,B] |
2171 | The 'will' doesn't exist; there is just conclusion, then action [Homer, by Williams,B] |
14829 | Homer so enjoys the company of the gods that he must have been deeply irreligious [Homer, by Nietzsche] |
11388 | Let there be one ruler [Homer] |
21819 | Plato says the Good produces the Intellectual-Principle, which in turn produces the Soul [Homer, by Plotinus] |