Freedom to Choose Between Good and Evil: Theological Anthropology in Discussion with Philosophy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24204/ejpr.v12i4.3521Abstract
After a brief discussion of the terms determinism and free will, the paper sets out to compare some recent philosophical approaches to the problem of free will with a theological anthropology account of the notion. It aims to defend the claim, that even though different kind of questions are asked on both sides, they tackle similar issues and a complementary approach is needed. Recent philosophy considers the problem mostly from the standpoint of logic, naturalist evolutionary ontology and cognitive science. In the Christian theological tradition, the idea of free will has been discussed mostly from the perspective of the problem of sin and grace, thus on the grounds of soteriology, hamartiology and theological ethics. The paper shows similarities between the approaches, mainly between the problem of physical determinism and theological determinism and also divine foreknowledge.
References
Anderson, James N., and Paul Manata. 2017. “Determined to Come Most Freely”. Journal of Reformed Theology 11, no. 3: 272–97. doi:10.1163/15697312–01103016.
Anselm. 2018. “On Free Will”. In T&T Clark Reader in Theological Anthropology, edited by Marc Cortez and Michael P. Jensen. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark.
Augustinus, Aurelius. 1887. Anti-Pelagian Writings. Edinburgh: Clark.
Clarke, Peter. 2018. “Determinism, Brain Function and Free Will”. In T&T Clark Reader in Theological Anthropology, edited by Marc Cortez and Michael P. Jensen. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark.
Clarke, Randolph. 2002. “Libertarian Views”. In The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, edited by Robert Kane. New York, NY: Oxford Univ. Press.
Cortez, Marc, and Michael P. Jensen, eds. 2018. T&T Clark Reader in Theological Anthropology. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark.
Crisp, Oliver. 2017. “Libertarian Calvinism”. In Free Will and Classical Theism: The Significance of Freedom in Perfect Being Theology, edited by Hugh J. McCann. New York, NY: Oxford Univ. Press.
Dennett, Daniel. 2007. Freedom Evolves. London: Penguin.
Fischer, John M. 2002. “Frankfurt-Type Examples and Semi-Compatibilism”. In The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, edited by Robert Kane. New York, NY: Oxford Univ. Press.
Hogson, David. 2002. “Quantum Physics, Consciousness, and Free”. In The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, edited by Robert Kane. New York, NY: Oxford Univ. Press.
Kane, Robert, ed. 2002. The Oxford Handbook of Free Will. New York, NY: Oxford Univ. Press.
Karfíková, Lenka. 2012. Grace and the Will According to Augustine. Leiden: Brill. http://www.brill.com/ BLDSS.
Mawson, T. J. 2005. Belief in God. Oxford: Clarendon.
McCann, Hugh J., ed. 2017. Free Will and Classical Theism: The Significance of Freedom in Perfect Being Theology. New York, NY: Oxford Univ. Press.
Murphy, Nancey C., and Warren S. Brown. 2007. Did My Neurons Make Me Do It? Philosophical and Neurobiological Perspectives on Moral Responsibility and Free Will. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Pereboom, Derk. 2006. Living without Free Will. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Rogers, Katherin A. 2002. “Anselmian Alternatives and Frankfurt-Style Counterexamples”. In The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, edited by Robert Kane. New York, NY: Oxford Univ. Press.
—. 2008. Anselm on Freedom. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
—. 2014. “Anselm of Canterbury on Freedom and Truth”. The Saint Anselm Journal 10, no. 1: 1–10.
Rose, David E. 2009. Free Will and Continental Philosophy: The Death Without Meaning. London: Continuum.
Searle, John R. 2004. Mind: A Brief Introduction. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Shafique, Muhammad, and Umar A. Wyne. 2015. “Beyond Theology into Biological Sciences? Historical Discourse on the Concept of Determinism”. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences 35, no. 1: 361–75.
van Inwagen, Peter. 1983. An Essay on Free Will. Oxford: Clarendon.
—. 2017. “The Problem of Fr** W*ll”. In Free Will and Classical Theism: The Significance of Freedom in Perfect Being Theology, edited by Hugh J. McCann. New York, NY: Oxford Univ. Press.
Vivhelin, Kadri. 2013. Causes, Laws and Free Will: Why Determinism Doesn’t Matter. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Woleński, Jan. 2015. “An Analysis of Logical Determinism”. Grazer Philosophische Studien 91, no. 1: 422–41. doi:10.1163/9789004302273_017.
Zagzebski, Linda T. 1996. The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
—. 2002. “Recent Work on Divine Foreknowledge and Free Will”. In The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, edited by Robert Kane. New York, NY: Oxford Univ. Press.
