Single Idea 23330

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

Full Idea

He is free for whom all things happen in accordance with his choice, and whom no one can constrain.

Gist of Idea

Freedom is making all things happen by choice, without constraint

Source

Epictetus (The Discourses [c.56], 1.12.09)

Book Reference

Epictetus: 'The Discourses, The Handbook, Fragments', ed/tr. Gill,C [Everyman 1995], p.33


A Reaction

The idea of 'free' will seems to have resulted from a wide extension of the idea of constraint, with global determinism lurking in the background.

Related Idea

Idea 23327 Stoics expanded the idea of compulsion, and contracted what counts as one's own actions [Stoic school, by Frede,M]