The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- I Medieval philosophical literature
- II Aristotle in the middle ages
- III The old logic
- IV Logic in the high middle ages: semantic theory
- V Logic in the high middle ages: propositions and modalities
- VI Metaphysics and epistemology
- VII Natural philosophy
- VIII Philosophy of mind and action
- 29 The potential and the agent intellect
- 30 Sense, intellect, and imagination in Albert, Thomas, and Siger
- 31 Criticisms of Aristotelian psychology and the Augustinian–Aristotelian synthesis
- 32 Free will and free choice
- 33 Thomas Aquinas on human action
- IX Ethics
- X Politics
- XI The defeat, neglect, and revival of scholasticism
- Index nominum
- Index rerum
- References
32 - Free will and free choice
from VIII - Philosophy of mind and action
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- I Medieval philosophical literature
- II Aristotle in the middle ages
- III The old logic
- IV Logic in the high middle ages: semantic theory
- V Logic in the high middle ages: propositions and modalities
- VI Metaphysics and epistemology
- VII Natural philosophy
- VIII Philosophy of mind and action
- 29 The potential and the agent intellect
- 30 Sense, intellect, and imagination in Albert, Thomas, and Siger
- 31 Criticisms of Aristotelian psychology and the Augustinian–Aristotelian synthesis
- 32 Free will and free choice
- 33 Thomas Aquinas on human action
- IX Ethics
- X Politics
- XI The defeat, neglect, and revival of scholasticism
- Index nominum
- Index rerum
- References
Summary
Aristotelian and Christian backgrounds for the medieval discussion
Medieval teaching on free choice was inspired on the one hand by Christian thinking and on the other by the moral philosophy of Aristotle as expounded in the Nicomachean Ethics. According to Christian thinkers man is given by God the possibility of choosing between good and evil, so that his conscious decisions affect his ultimate fate, although salvation is impossible without the intervention of divine grace. For Aristotle the consequences of free choice are limited to life on this earth; but in other respects there are similarities between his view and the Christian teaching. For both, man can choose between good and evil as a consequence of his capacity for rational judgement, which makes him significantly more independent of his environment than other beings. According to Aristotle man has a will or desire (boulēsis) for what is good for him: when this is combined with a judgement about what, in concrete circumstances, is conducive to his good there results a choice (prohairesis). The criteria by which such choices are made may differ from individual to individual and are by no means uniform for all men.
Medieval thinkers derived their Christian view of free will principally from the Book of Genesis and from the Epistles of St Paul, but they were also acquainted with Augustine and John of Damascus. The former, in speaking of free choice, emphasised on the one hand the freedom and spontaneity of human aspirations, and on the other the moral and theoretical problems associated with the liberation of human beings from the fetters of doubt, suffering, and sin.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Later Medieval PhilosophyFrom the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism, 1100–1600, pp. 629 - 641Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1982
References
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