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    The theological contradiction between human free will and... — Carmelics
    Home/Free Will & Foreknowledge
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    The theological contradiction between human free will and divine foreknowledge is resolved by a deterministic description of the world.

    CausationFree Will & Foreknowledge
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.God is the first cause and knows all the laws of the world.
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    • 2.God therefore knows the entirety of that which God has determined.
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    • 3.Free will, understood as an originative cause that is itself uncaused, does not really exist.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Determinism dissolves rather than resolves the tension: if agents cannot do otherwise, divine punishment and reward become morally incoherent.
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    • 2.Crescas's own account of will as desire-driven still requires that desires originate in the agent, not solely in prior divine causes.
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    • 3.A God who determines all acts and then judges them conflates authorship with moral responsibility in a way determinism cannot internally justify.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Boethius and Aquinas argued divine foreknowledge is timeless eternal vision, not causal determination, preserving contingency without denying omniscience.
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    • 2.If eternity-based foreknowledge already resolves the tension without determinism, the deterministic solution is neither necessary nor sufficient.
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    Topics

    Free Will & ForeknowledgeCausation

    Key Terms

    knowledge(Distinguished from mere true belief, which may be the product of indoctrination and need not exercise deliberative capacities.)
    Justified true belief — true belief that has been arrived at through the exercise of deliberative capacities, including comparison of and deliberation among alternatives.

    Connections

    2 topics

    Divine Attributes2 linkedMoral Responsibility1 linked

    Related

    A God who determines all acts and then judges them conflates authorship with mor...Boethius and Aquinas argued divine foreknowledge is timeless eternal vision, not...Crescas's own account of will as desire-driven still requires that desires origi...Determinism dissolves rather than resolves the tension: if agents cannot do othe...
    +4 moreShow less
    Free will, understood as an originative cause that is itself uncaused, does not ...God is the first cause and knows all the laws of the world.

    Similar

    Incompatibilists accept the incompatibility of infallible foreknowledg...82%The compatibilist about infallible foreknowledge and free will must fi...80%The compatibility of divine foreknowledge and human freedom can be def...80%The determinacy of the future does not exclude people from having free...79%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: crescas
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    This deterministic description of the world (based on rational arguments) resolves the theological problem of the contradiction between the free will of man and the foreknowledge of God. In Crescas’s opinion, free will, in the sense of an originative cause that is itself uncaused, to decide and act does not really exist. God is the first cause and knows all the laws of the world. Therefore, He knows the entirety of that which He has determined.
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    God therefore knows the entirety of that which God has determined.
    If eternity-based foreknowledge already resolves the tension without determinism...
    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit