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Full Idea
All those things that are in man's power either to do or not to do he himself is the cause of, and all those things that he is the cause of are in his own power.
Gist of Idea
A man is the cause of what is within his power, and what he causes is in his power
Source
Aristotle (Eudemian Ethics [c.333 BCE], 1223a08)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Eudemian Ethics I,II and VIII', ed/tr. Woods,Michael [OUP 1992], p.22
A Reaction
This is the step which allows us to abandon free will, and replace it with the question of whether a person is the 'cause' of an action. Aristotle carefully delineates the criteria for when an action is within a person's power. Includes failures to act?
Related Ideas
Idea 22512 Acts are voluntary if done knowingly, by the agent, and in his power to avoid it [Aristotle]
Idea 22507 An action is voluntary when it is accompanied by thought of some kind [Aristotle]
| 22506 | A man is the cause of what is within his power, and what he causes is in his power [Aristotle] |
| 23327 | Stoics expanded the idea of compulsion, and contracted what counts as one's own actions [Stoic school, by Frede,M] |
| 23331 | Not even Zeus can control what I choose [Epictetus] |
| 1855 | If we saw something as totally and utterly good, we would be compelled to will it [Aquinas] |
| 3789 | The more reasons that compel me, the freer I am [Descartes] |
| 23676 | A willed action needs reasonable understanding of what is to be done [Reid] |
| 8353 | Freedom involves acting according to an idea [Anscombe] |