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Single Idea 21965

[filed under theme 16. Persons / F. Free Will / 4. For Free Will ]

Full Idea

Spinoza could only think his philosophy, not believe it, for it stood in immediate contradiction to his necessary conviction in daily life, whereby he was bound to regard himself as free and independent.

Gist of Idea

Spinoza could not actually believe his determinism, because living requires free will

Source

Johann Fichte (works [1798], I:513), quoted by A.W. Moore - The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics 06.2

Book Ref

Moore,A.W.: 'The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics' [CUP 2013], p.149

A Reaction

This seems to be invoking Kant's idea that we must presuppose free will, rather than an assertion that we actually have it.

The 22 ideas with the same theme [defences of the existence of wills which are free]:

22504 Only a human being can be a starting point for an action [Aristotle]
14516 There is no necessity to live with necessity [Epicurus]
20834 Chrysippus allows evil to say it is fated, or even that it is rational and natural [Plutarch on Chrysippus]
23338 You can fetter my leg, but not even Zeus can control my power of choice [Epictetus]
1856 Nothing can be willed except what is good, but good is very varied, and so choices are unpredictable [Aquinas]
1861 The will is not compelled to move, even if pleasant things are set before it [Aquinas]
1862 However habituated you are, given time to ponder you can go against a habit [Aquinas]
1853 Because the will moves by examining alternatives, it doesn't compel itself to will [Aquinas]
1849 Since will is a reasoning power, it can entertain opposites, so it is not compelled to embrace one of them [Aquinas]
2282 My capacity to make choices with my free will extends as far as any faculty ever could [Descartes]
4310 We have inner awareness of our freedom [Descartes]
23668 Our own nature attributes free determinations to our own will [Reid]
23680 We are morally free, because we experience it, we are accountable, and we pursue projects [Reid]
9756 We must be free, because we can act against our strongest desires [Kant, by Korsgaard]
5597 If there is a first beginning, there can be other sequences initiated from nothing [Kant]
3740 We cannot conceive of reason as being externally controlled [Kant]
21965 Spinoza could not actually believe his determinism, because living requires free will [Fichte]
20322 I am aware that freedom is possible, and the freedom is not in theory, but in seeking freedom [Jaspers]
3444 If actions are not caused by other events, and are not causeless, they must be caused by the person [Chisholm]
3808 Rational decision making presupposes free will [Searle]
3818 We freely decide whether to make a reason for action effective [Searle]
3817 Free will is most obvious when we choose between several reasons for an action [Searle]