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    Scotus argues that the will's self-motion (as an active p... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The practical intellect and the will are not separate powers, but one power with two separate acts

    Scotus argues that the will's self-motion (as an active power originating its own act) is irreducible to any intellectual operation, establishing an asymmetry of causal kind, not merely act.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Intellect determines objects as good/desirable, but cannot explain why will *chooses* this object over others given identical intellectual content.
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    • 2.If will's act were reducible to intellect, libertarian freedom vanishes—all volition becomes determined by prior intellectual states.
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    • 3.Only positing will as active power with its own causal origin preserves genuine agent causation distinct from event causation.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
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    • 1.An unmoved mover principle applied to will creates infinite regress: what explains will's self-motion if not prior causal factors?
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    • 2.The asymmetry claim relies on distinguishing 'causal kind' without explaining what this distinction ontologically amounts to or why it's coherent.
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    • 3.Empirically, will-acts consistently correlate with and follow from evaluative judgments, suggesting functional inseparability rather than independence.
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    Key Terms

    Active power(describing the will's nature)
    A capacity or ability to do something or make something happen, as opposed to just passively receiving change from outside.
    Asymmetry of causal kind(describing the difference between will and intellect)
    A situation where two things work in different fundamental ways—not just in degree or strength, but in their basic nature or type.
    Intellectual operation(what the will is being contrasted with)
    Mental activities involving reasoning, thinking, or processing information with the mind's rational faculty.
    Originating its own act(describing what the will's power does)
    Being the source or starting point of an action, rather than having that action caused by something else.
    Scotus(The philosopher whose reasoning is being analyzed)
    A medieval philosopher (John Duns Scotus, 1266-1308) known for his detailed logical arguments about God, free will, and how things exist.
    irreducible(Personalist anthropology; distinguishes personhood from mere biological individuality)
    That which is unique and unrepeatable in each human being, by virtue of which a person is not merely an individual of a species but a personal subject.
    self-motion(Used by Scotus to describe both volitional action and certain physical processes such as free fall)
    Motion or action caused by the moving or acting thing itself, rather than by an external determinant or end

    Connections

    2 topics

    Consciousness & Mind1 linkedDivine Attributes1 linked

    Related

    An unmoved mover principle applied to will creates infinite regress: what explai...Empirically, will-acts consistently correlate with and follow from evaluative ju...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    If will's act were reducible to intellect, libertarian freedom vanishes—all voli...
    Intellect determines objects as good/desirable, but cannot explain why will *cho...
    +3 moreShow less
    Only positing will as active power with its own causal origin preserves genuine ...The asymmetry claim relies on distinguishing 'causal kind' without explaining wh...The practical intellect and the will are not separate powers, but one power with...