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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.
| 20051 | Reid said that agent causation is a unique type of causation [Reid, by Stout,R] |
| 8383 | Day and night are constantly conjoined, but they don't cause one another [Reid, by Crane] |
| 23664 | Powers are quite distinct and simple, and so cannot be defined [Reid] |
| 23666 | It is obvious that there could not be a power without a subject which possesses it [Reid] |
| 23665 | Consciousness is the power of mind to know itself, and minds are grounded in powers [Reid] |
| 23668 | Our own nature attributes free determinations to our own will [Reid] |
| 23667 | Regular events don't imply a cause, without an innate conviction of universal causation [Reid] |
| 23670 | Scientists don't know the cause of magnetism, and only discover its regulations [Reid] |
| 23671 | Laws are rules for effects, but these need a cause; rules of navigation don't navigate [Reid] |
| 23669 | Thinkers say that matter has intrinsic powers, but is also passive and acted upon [Reid] |