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Single Idea 23668
[filed under theme 16. Persons / F. Free Will / 4. For Free Will
]
Full Idea
Every man is led by nature to attribute to himself the free determination of his own will, and to believe those events to be in his power which depend upon his will.
Gist of Idea
Our own nature attributes free determinations to our own will
Source
Thomas Reid (Essays on Active Powers 1: Active power [1788], 5)
Book Ref
Reid,Thomas: 'Inquiry and Essays', ed/tr. Beanblossom /K.Lehrer [Hackett 1983], p.306
A Reaction
I'm happy to say we are all responsible for those actions which are caused by the conscious decisions of our own will (our mental decision mechanisms), but personally I would drop the word 'free', which adds nothing. We are not 'ultimately' responsible.
The
22 ideas
with the same theme
[defences of the existence of wills which are free]:
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22504
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Only a human being can be a starting point for an action
[Aristotle]
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14516
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There is no necessity to live with necessity
[Epicurus]
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20834
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Chrysippus allows evil to say it is fated, or even that it is rational and natural
[Plutarch on Chrysippus]
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23338
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You can fetter my leg, but not even Zeus can control my power of choice
[Epictetus]
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1856
|
Nothing can be willed except what is good, but good is very varied, and so choices are unpredictable
[Aquinas]
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1861
|
The will is not compelled to move, even if pleasant things are set before it
[Aquinas]
|
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1862
|
However habituated you are, given time to ponder you can go against a habit
[Aquinas]
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1853
|
Because the will moves by examining alternatives, it doesn't compel itself to will
[Aquinas]
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1849
|
Since will is a reasoning power, it can entertain opposites, so it is not compelled to embrace one of them
[Aquinas]
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2282
|
My capacity to make choices with my free will extends as far as any faculty ever could
[Descartes]
|
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4310
|
We have inner awareness of our freedom
[Descartes]
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23668
|
Our own nature attributes free determinations to our own will
[Reid]
|
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23680
|
We are morally free, because we experience it, we are accountable, and we pursue projects
[Reid]
|
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9756
|
We must be free, because we can act against our strongest desires
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
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5597
|
If there is a first beginning, there can be other sequences initiated from nothing
[Kant]
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3740
|
We cannot conceive of reason as being externally controlled
[Kant]
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21965
|
Spinoza could not actually believe his determinism, because living requires free will
[Fichte]
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20322
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I am aware that freedom is possible, and the freedom is not in theory, but in seeking freedom
[Jaspers]
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3444
|
If actions are not caused by other events, and are not causeless, they must be caused by the person
[Chisholm]
|
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3808
|
Rational decision making presupposes free will
[Searle]
|
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3818
|
We freely decide whether to make a reason for action effective
[Searle]
|
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3817
|
Free will is most obvious when we choose between several reasons for an action
[Searle]
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