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Single Idea 6018

[filed under theme 16. Persons / F. Free Will / 1. Nature of Free Will ]

Full Idea

By posing the problem of determinism, Epicurus became arguably the first philosopher to recognise the philosophical centrality of what we call the Free Will Question. His strongly libertarian approach is strongly contrasted with Stoic determinism.

Gist of Idea

Epicurus was the first to see the free will problem, and he was a libertarian

Source

report of Epicurus (fragments/reports [c.289 BCE]) by AA Long / DN Sedley - Hellenic Philosophers commentary

Book Ref

'The Hellenistic Philosophers:Vol.1 translations', ed/tr. Long,A. /Sedley,D. [CUP 1987], p.107

A Reaction

Epicurus introduced the rather dubious 'swerve' of the atoms to make room for free will. It seems to me more consistent to stick with the determinism of Democritus. Zeno became a determinist in reaction to Epicurus.

The 30 ideas with the same theme [what exactly a free will is understood to be]:

5118 Anaxagoras says mind remains pure, and so is not affected by what it changes [Anaxagoras, by Aristotle]
8007 Aristotle never discusses free will [Aristotle, by MacIntyre]
12961 For an action to be 'free', it must be deliberate as well as unconstrained [Aristotle, by Leibniz]
4118 A human being fathers his own actions as he fathers his children [Aristotle]
6018 Epicurus was the first to see the free will problem, and he was a libertarian [Epicurus, by Long/Sedley]
23329 We make progress when we improve and naturalise our choices, asserting their freedom [Epictetus]
23342 Freedom is acting by choice, with no constraint possible [Epictetus]
23330 Freedom is making all things happen by choice, without constraint [Epictetus]
5771 Knowledge of present events doesn't make them necessary, so future events are no different [Boethius]
22111 Aquinas attributes freedom to decisions and judgements, and not to the will alone [Aquinas, by Kretzmann/Stump]
2283 Our 'will' just consists of the feeling that when we are motivated to do something, there are no external pressures [Descartes]
5010 Our free will is so self-evident to us that it must be a basic innate idea [Descartes]
4814 A thing is free if it acts by necessity of its own nature, and the act is determined by itself alone [Spinoza]
3792 We are free to decide not to follow our desires [Locke]
5023 Future contingent events are certain, because God foresees them, but that doesn't make them necessary [Leibniz]
3447 All theory is against free will, and all experience is in favour of it [Johnson,S]
5596 We must assume an absolute causal spontaneity beginning from itself [Kant]
3739 Free will is a kind of causality which works independently of other causes [Kant]
23237 The capacity for freedom is above the laws of nature, with its own power of purpose and will [Fichte]
23244 Forming purposes is absolutely free, and produces something from nothing [Fichte]
21780 A free will primarily wills its own freedoom [Hegel, by Houlgate]
3846 Man IS freedom [Sartre]
9249 Whether we are free is uninteresting; we can only experience our freedom [Camus]
9267 Free will is the capacity to choose what sort of will you have [Frankfurt]
3292 The most difficult problem of free will is saying what the problem is [Nagel]
3800 You can be free even though force would have prevented you doing otherwise [Dennett, by PG]
3803 Can we conceive of a being with a will freer than our own? [Dennett]
2545 Free will is mental causation in action [McGinn]
5338 Normal free will claims control of what I do, but a stronger view claims control of thought and feeling [Flanagan]
5344 Free will is held to give us a whole list of desirable capacities for living [Flanagan]