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Single Idea 5010
[filed under theme 16. Persons / F. Free Will / 1. Nature of Free Will
]
Full Idea
It is so evident that we are possessed of a free will that can give or withhold its assent, that this may be counted as one of the first and most common notions found innately in us.
Gist of Idea
Our free will is so self-evident to us that it must be a basic innate idea
Source
René Descartes (Principles of Philosophy [1646], I.39)
Book Ref
Descartes,René: 'Philosophical Essays and Correspondence', ed/tr. Ariew,Roger [Hackett 2000], p.241
A Reaction
It seems to me plausible to say that we have an innate conception of our own will (our ability to make decisions), though Hume says we only learn about the will from experience, but the idea that it is absolutely 'free' might never cross our minds.
The
30 ideas
with the same theme
[what exactly a free will is understood to be]:
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5118
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Anaxagoras says mind remains pure, and so is not affected by what it changes
[Anaxagoras, by Aristotle]
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8007
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Aristotle never discusses free will
[Aristotle, by MacIntyre]
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12961
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For an action to be 'free', it must be deliberate as well as unconstrained
[Aristotle, by Leibniz]
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4118
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A human being fathers his own actions as he fathers his children
[Aristotle]
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6018
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Epicurus was the first to see the free will problem, and he was a libertarian
[Epicurus, by Long/Sedley]
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23329
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We make progress when we improve and naturalise our choices, asserting their freedom
[Epictetus]
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23342
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Freedom is acting by choice, with no constraint possible
[Epictetus]
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23330
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Freedom is making all things happen by choice, without constraint
[Epictetus]
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5771
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Knowledge of present events doesn't make them necessary, so future events are no different
[Boethius]
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22111
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Aquinas attributes freedom to decisions and judgements, and not to the will alone
[Aquinas, by Kretzmann/Stump]
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2283
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Our 'will' just consists of the feeling that when we are motivated to do something, there are no external pressures
[Descartes]
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5010
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Our free will is so self-evident to us that it must be a basic innate idea
[Descartes]
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4814
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A thing is free if it acts by necessity of its own nature, and the act is determined by itself alone
[Spinoza]
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3792
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We are free to decide not to follow our desires
[Locke]
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5023
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Future contingent events are certain, because God foresees them, but that doesn't make them necessary
[Leibniz]
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3447
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All theory is against free will, and all experience is in favour of it
[Johnson,S]
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5596
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We must assume an absolute causal spontaneity beginning from itself
[Kant]
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3739
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Free will is a kind of causality which works independently of other causes
[Kant]
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23237
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The capacity for freedom is above the laws of nature, with its own power of purpose and will
[Fichte]
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23244
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Forming purposes is absolutely free, and produces something from nothing
[Fichte]
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21780
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A free will primarily wills its own freedoom
[Hegel, by Houlgate]
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3846
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Man IS freedom
[Sartre]
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9249
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Whether we are free is uninteresting; we can only experience our freedom
[Camus]
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9267
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Free will is the capacity to choose what sort of will you have
[Frankfurt]
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3292
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The most difficult problem of free will is saying what the problem is
[Nagel]
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3800
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You can be free even though force would have prevented you doing otherwise
[Dennett, by PG]
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3803
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Can we conceive of a being with a will freer than our own?
[Dennett]
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2545
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Free will is mental causation in action
[McGinn]
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5338
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Normal free will claims control of what I do, but a stronger view claims control of thought and feeling
[Flanagan]
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5344
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Free will is held to give us a whole list of desirable capacities for living
[Flanagan]
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