Liber Arbiter

FREE WILL

2010-02-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

by those who coined the term
Translated as free will, the Latin phrase liber arbiter (coined by early European philosophers) literally means independent arbitrator, where the quality of arbitrator refers to human beings' faculty to decide on the worth of anything, whereas that of independent refers to their capacity of self-objectivation. Regarded as Man's ability to cause his own course of actions by his own means, free will referrs to the control of instinctual and emotional behavior through reason.

The present inquiry reviews in brief all the philosophical ideas (in metaphysics, epistemology and ethics) relevant to the problem of liber arbiter put forth by ancient European thinkers. Scroll down the list in the side bar and check the concise articles on each philosopher’s view on free will.

Anicius Manlinus Severinus Boethius (475 - 526)

2008-08-11T00:49:00.000-07:00

For Boethius, Neoplatonist universals are only objects of rational minds. A rational nature possesses free will as its acts of volition cannot belong to physical causal chains. Reason allows for a higher degree of freedom (defined as Man's capability of causing his own course of actions by his own means). The more blinded by ignorance or obssessed with vicious passions, the more enslaved; conversely, the more rational, the more free.

Proclus Lycaeus (412 - 485)

2008-08-06T05:34:00.000-07:00

Proclus holds the One (Neoplatonist unifying divine principle beyond being and thought) as the origin of the entire existence. The One fosters the Intellect situated outside time, and it is due to this divine Mind that multiplicity is possible in both thought and existence. Processuality arises with the Intellect's temporal product, the Soul, whose individual occurrences tend to be overpowered by the material world. Man will attain freedom only insomuch as he can, through reason, liberate his soul from the domination of bodily passions.

Aurelius Augustinus (354-430)

2008-08-02T20:23:00.001-07:00

For Augustinus, God is the immutable origin of the rationally hierarchical universe, in which there is a fundamental contrast between the intelligible and the sensible. The world of the sense includes only non-shareable transitory objects whereas the intelligible realm contains public, eternal realities. Man’s free will is defined as the rational choice between perishable objects and immutable ones. Augustinus shows that the compatibility of divine predestination (as well as foreknowledge) and freedom of will derives from Man’s responsibility for his choices.

Plotinus (204 – 270)

2008-08-02T12:09:00.001-07:00

Founder of Neoplatonism, Plotinus states that the core of all existence is the indefinable One, whose Intellect makes the primal principle of the universe. The creative action of this divine Mind fosters the Soul, the place where the world takes objective shape. Individual souls must employ their power of conscious will in order to free themselves from the limits of their material reliance and contemplate the higher order of reality. Plotinus is the first thinker to put forth the idea that human happiness is independent of the physical world and can only be attained within consciousness due to Man’s faculty of reason.

Epictetus (55 – 135)

2008-07-25T23:07:00.000-07:00

Man is free to manage his existence by accepting what is divinely predetermined and making appropriate choices when it comes to his own proceedings. Epictetus states that personal fulfillment depends largely on the individual character. The character can become a decisive factor in being in charge of one’s life through assiduous preparation as to how to control one’s perceptions, impulses to act (or not to act) and irrational drives.

Seneca (4 BC – AD 65)

2008-07-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

"A well governed appetite is the greater part of liberty," this theoretician of free will points out. Seneca insists that natural events should be explained through natural laws. Although the order of things is divinely predetermined, the soul (which is corporeal, monadic and rational) allows knowledge to influence proceeding. Inner impulses will lead to action in the absence of external impediments. Man manifests freedom of will in that he can control his actions by means of judgment and perform voluntary, virtuous deeds.

Titus Lucretius Carus (99 BC- 55 BC)

2008-07-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

Human beings’ view on the external world is truthfully built on their sense data. The limitless universe is a purposeless ongoing cosmic event consisting of matter and void. Matter is composed of a finite number of undying atoms, the swerve motion of which is regarded by Lucretius as the basis for the existence of free will. Man, whose soul will disintegrate with the body at death, can achieve happiness through self denial and moral discipline.

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC)

2008-07-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

As a skeptic, Cicero states that there is no true philosophy due to the fact that Man can never be certain in his knowledge about reality. As a stoic humanist, he believes there is a natural law stemming from universal reason. Since human beings share both the natural law and reason, Man’s actions are only partially predetermined while he enjoys free will quite to a significant extent.

Philo (20 BC - 50 AD)

2008-07-13T06:13:00.001-07:00

Likely the founder of Christianity, Philo considers the world a divine creation: God is "the efficient cause," whereas matter is "the affected cause." Although essentially defective, the physical nature of man allows the spirit to build knowledge of the world by means of the senses. The spiritual nature of Man is higher due to reason, which can control irrational desires and has access to heavenly things.

Antiochus (130 BC - 68 BC)

2008-07-13T04:46:00.000-07:00

Antiochus’ philosophy focuses primarily on the criterion of truth and the goal of Man’s life. The human intellect is considered capable of distinguishing truth from falsehood. Reason, as the most important part of human nature, should be valued best since it helps supress emotions and attain virtue, the chief good that leads to happiness.

Posidonius (135 BC - 51 BC)

2008-07-13T02:31:00.001-07:00

The universe shows an organic unity in its structure and development. Passions (both spirited and desiderative) are inherent in human nature but Man can control them through reason, which should become his dominant faculty.

Carneades (214 BC – 129 BC)

2008-07-12T21:59:00.001-07:00

An atheist and a radical skeptic, Carneades is the first to claim that metaphysicians have failed to identify rational meanings in religious beliefs. Neither senses nor reason can allow people to acquire truth: all knowledge is impossible, except for the knowledge that all other knowledge is impossible. People manage to live and act correctly by means of probabilities of truth, the only ones that can be determined. The world is the result of chance, but human beings can freely choose what to do due to their “free movement of mind” and the ability to be the cause of their own actions.

Zeno of Citium (334 BC - 262 BC)

2008-07-12T20:56:00.000-07:00

Zeno is the architect of Stoicism, which urges people to lead a life of virtue in accordance with nature in order to achieve peace of mind and goodness: “Happiness is a good flow of life.” The Universe is a godly entity whose Universal Reason inspires Man to rationalize and exert his free will by building knowledge and avoiding the dominance of the irrational.

Epicurus (341 BC – 270 BC)

2008-07-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

Epicurus insists that knowledge comes from senses (if properly used): nothing should be believed except that which is tested through direct observation and logical deduction. The infinite and eternal universe is an agglomeration of atoms, whose purposeless motions and interactions result in the observable phenomena. Although the nature of human beings’ mind is a material one, occasional swerves in the movement of atoms allow for people’s autonomy of decision and action. Man’s existence is the pursuit of a happy life, which can be attained by pleasure (regarded as the absence of pain and fear), a type of psychological hedonism that leads to the ethical strategy “neither to harm nor be harmed”.

Theophrastus (371 BC - 287 BC)

2008-07-09T19:16:00.000-07:00

For Theophrastus, the necessity of universal principles derives from the corporeal and composite nature of the world. Space (defined as the arrangement and position of bodies) has no substance, and neither has time; time is an accident of motion, which in turn is the result of all activity. There is no difference between the way animals and human beings feel, sense, and reason. Man's happiness depends on not only personal effort but also external influences: "Life is ruled by fortune, not wisdom."

Stilpo (380 BC - 330 BC)

2008-07-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

Stilpo maintains that the individual (the concrete) never contains the universal (the genus). Since predicates cannot reveal the essence of things, the phenomenal world will always remain unapproachable to true knowledge. Man can reach his highest happiness by freeing his mind from the control of passion.

Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)

2008-07-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

Involving both the genus and the difference, definitions are propositions about the fundamental nature of a subject. For Aristotle, propositions are true if there is an agreement with the reality they represent. The truth can be reached by means of the logic syllogism, the laws of contradiction, and that of excluded middle. Disrespect for these laws would result in the uniformity of all assertions and in apathy concerning one’s conduct. Aristotle regards ethics as Man’s effort to identify his chief end. In fact, the world as a whole (whose ground consists of its concrete objects) is a constant transformation of matter toward an end. Man reaches his purpose or happiness by developing the learned faculty of controlling his irrational side through reason. The “autonomy of will” thus attained allows for voluntary actions, whose causes lie within Man himself.

Diogenes of Sinope (412 BC - 323 BC)

2008-07-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

One of the founders of Cynicism, Diogenes mocks conventions and affectation of knowledge that satisfies no necessity. He regards reason as the faculty that frees Man from passion or beastliness and guides him away from errors and toward personal fulfillment. For Diogenes, happiness has nothing to do with material circumstances whereas ethical conduct grounds on the return to nature’s minimalism.

Speusippus (407 BC-339 BC)

2008-07-02T02:10:00.000-07:00

For Speusippus, the first cause of all beings cannot be a being itself (principle of alien causality). He divides philosophy into Dialectics, Ethics and Physics and insists that producing a complete definition requires identifying the differences which draw an object apart from the rest (genera and species). Speusippus regards Man as able to reach happiness (untroubledness) by means of rational control over his desires.

Plato (428 BC – 348 BC)

2008-07-01T02:29:00.000-07:00

In Plato’s ontology, the good is the ultimate principle of a reality split into two irreconcilable domains: the spiritual and its shadow, the material. The first to put forth the idea of knowledge as justified true belief, Plato states that the processual and unstable world of material phenomena merely allows for opinions, whereas the realm of non-sensible and immutable forms (intelligible ideas) can offer pure knowledge. It is only reason which can ensure a person’s inner harmony through the control it should exert over will and desires. Thus, will can only manifest freely under the influence of knowledge of the good and of the truth.

Socrates (469 BC – 399 BC)

2008-06-30T02:57:00.000-07:00

Father of the Socratic Method, Socrates uses a process of logical distillation which eliminates contradictory hypotheses by breaking and narrowing the problem down till the answer is found. Denying the role of a teacher, Socrates claims that he merely understands the path which a lover of wisdom must take in tracking it. He urges people to pursue knowledge since wrongdoing is a consequence of ignorance. Socrates' ideas show a conviction that Man is endowed with virtues and it is their cultivation which can allow for his best self-fulfillment because Man's will can only manifest freely under the influence of knowledge of the good and of the truth.

Protagoras (490 BC – 420 BC)

2008-06-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

Protagoras is an agnostic: “Many things prevent knowledge including the obscurity of the subject and the brevity of human life.” Protagoras’ epistemology reminds of a type of phenomenalism according to which reality as people understand it is determined by their subjectivity. Able to make the worse line of reasoning appear superior, the sophist insists that one has to always strengthen the weakest argument because the less appealing argument can hide the best answer. Interpreted as a form of radical relativism, Protagoras’ idea that “man is the measure of all things” shows that his philosophical preoccupations are part of a shift in the ancient Greek philosophical focus from natural philosophy to human philosophy.

Democritus (460 BC - 370 BC)

2008-06-29T05:46:00.000-07:00

The first thinker to realize the Milky Way is composed of distant bright celestial bodies and to suggest the universe includes numerous worlds, Democritus states that the world is eternal and consists of various imperishable, indivisible elements called atoms. The real properties of atoms determine the perceived properties of matter, which turns out to be quite difficult to discover since the perception through the senses is subjective. Democritus emphasizes the epistemological and ethical importance of reason. Rational interpretation of sense data helps grasp the truth, while rational control of emotions and instincts allows people to fulfill themselves as strong characters: "The brave man is he who overcomes not only his enemies but also his pleasures."

Leucippus (480 BC - 420 BC)

2008-06-29T00:06:00.001-07:00

Founder of Atomism, Leucippus advances the idea that everything is made up of eternal, indivisible elements called atoms. The world exists as a result of the constant action of the infinite number of atoms of countless shapes and sizes impinging upon one another in all directions within the unlimited void. The result is a vortex motion that unfolds the inexorable reality: “Naught happens for nothing, but all things from a ground and of necessity”.

Anaxagoras (500 BC – 428 BC)

2008-06-28T22:15:00.001-07:00

Anaxagoras places Mind at the core of his cosmogony. The origin of the world lies in the action of Mind upon an initial infinite mass, which is turned from an undistinguishable amalgam to a structured cosmos. As material as the rest of matter, Mind is a purposeless element that acts freely and rules both the organic and the inorganic. Anaxagoras’ idea that there is a mechanical process through which minute constituents combine to form all things in the universe will pave the way for the atomic theory. However, his innovation that the cosmic order stems from Mind will lead to the belief that nature is the work of design.

Empedocles (490 BC – 430 BC)

2008-06-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

Father of the cosmogenic theory of the four classical elements (fire, air, water and earth), Empedocles states that the world is governed by two cosmic forces (of attraction and repulsion) which cause the eternal, immutable elements to combine and generate everything there is. The world can be described as a constant flux whose stability is warranted by the eternity of its basic constituents. The organic evolution of the universe accounts for life and its diversity, whereas the existence of the same elements in all things allows for perception and thought (by similars). Empedocles considers Man to be potentially perfectible through refining knowledge.

Zeno of Elea (490 BC – 430 BC)

2008-06-27T22:20:00.001-07:00

Zeno is considered the inventor of dialectic (by Aristotle) and modern logic (by Bertrand Russell). Through his brilliant method of reduction ad absurdum (named dialectical syllogism by Aristotle), Zeno shows that the common sense notion of reality leads to paradoxical results. As a consequence, later Greek natural philosophers develop sound physical theories of composition and Western thinkers create logically consistent mathematical concepts.

Parmenides of Elea (510 BC - ?)

2008-06-27T03:12:00.000-07:00

Preoccupied with the appearance/reality duality, Parmenides states that reality is one, change is impossible, and existence is timeless, uniform, and immutable. Non-existence cannot be, while existence equates the intelligible, which is infinite and indivisible. Variety in nature is false and deceitful. Concepts such as birth, development, change, motion, color, etc. lack referents; they cannot even exist as ideas since they are logically unthinkable.

Xenophanes (570 BC – 480 BC)

2008-06-27T00:54:00.000-07:00

According to Xenophanes, one cannot be sure that inductively derived ideas about the world are true. Since the truth of reality is inaccessible to human beings, knowledge can only be used as working hypotheses. Xenophanes maintains that there is only one god (the infinite, eternal and immutable universe) which he regards with no religious feeling.

Heraclitus of Ephesos (535 BC - 475 BC)

2008-06-27T00:12:00.000-07:00

Heraclitus holds apparently contradictory principles: everything is constantly changing, opposite entities are identical, and everything is and is not at the same time. The cosmos functions on the basis of a law-like flux of elements and the transformational equivalence of opposites. The first to go beyond physical theory in order to find out metaphysical foundations and ethical applications, Heraclitus shows that reality changes according to a universal law that functions as a moral law for human beings. Man is regarded as a voluntary agent whose awareness of the nature of reality and human condition can determine him to take morally correct actions.

Archytas of Tarentum (428 BC – 347 BC)

2008-06-26T01:34:00.000-07:00

Archytas shows that objects should be defined as combinations of Philolaus’ limiters with unlimiteds, whose arrangement can be determined mathematically. Not only the natural world but also political relationships and the moral action of individuals are explained in terms of number and proportion. Thus, the Pythagorean identifies rational calculation as the basis of both a flourishing state and a successful person. Archytas insists that reason is human beings’ sole faculty that can free them from the dominance of instinctual and emotional behavior.

Philolaus (480 BC ¬- 405 BC)

2008-06-25T01:38:00.000-07:00

The first thinker to put forth the idea that the earth is not the center of the universe, Philolaus argues that matter consists of harmonious combinations of unlimiteds and limiters, whose arrangement can be described mathematically. While unlimiteds are universal forms and rules (basic elements, space & time continuum, etc.), limiters set specific boundaries (shape, quantity, etc.). A dualist in the Pythagorean tradition, Philolaus thinks that parts of the human body mix in harmony to show the quality of the soul, whose confined existence is a substantial one.

Pythagoras of Samos (580 BC - 500 BC)

2008-06-24T01:27:00.000-07:00

Father of theoretical dualism and the first thinker to call himself a philosopher, Pythagoras challenges the Greek traditions with his religious doctrines: the soul’s immortality, metempsychosis, eternal recurrence and all animate beings’ consubstantiality. Philosophically, Pythagoras considers that numbers make the ultimate, unseen essence of the universe since through mathematics everything can be predicted and measured in rhythmic patterns or cycles. Celestial bodies move in accordance with the mathematical ratios that govern tuneful musical intervals in order to produce the harmony of the spheres. The cosmos exists by inhaling from the infinite chaos outside it an air similar to both Anaximene’s aer (a mist-like gas for which aether makes the purer version) and Anaximander’s apeiron. The mechanism through which the boundless mass can take shape is the mathematical limit, which gives significance and stability. Without numerical relationships the universe will collapse just as the human society cannot function in the absence of moral principles: “No man is free who cannot command himself.” The first to state that the thought processes and the soul are located in the brain (not in the heart), Pythagoras considers human freedom to be the ability to subordinate passions to reason.

Anaximenes (585 BC - 525 BC)

2008-06-22T23:49:00.000-07:00

Claiming that the unifying element within nature is the air, or aer (a mist-like gas for which aether makes the purer version), Anaximenes is the first to offer a theory by which the original source and support of everything which is changes into a multifarious reality. Due to his mechanistic view on how the governing processes of rarefaction and condensation bring about change and ensure the functioning of the universe, Anaximenes is sometimes regarded as a proto-atomist. The Greek material monist is the first one to put forth a theory of the soul and to also employ the microcosm/macrocosm argument in his natural philosophy: "Just as our soul, being air, holds us together, so do breath and air encompass the whole world."

Anaximander (610 BC – 546 BC)

2008-06-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

Anaximander considers reality a variation of the indefinite and limitless unifying element named apeiron. The laws governing both nature and human society stem from this eternal and indestructible entity that makes the ultimate motive force of the universe (somewhat similar to the modern concept of energy). The Greek material monist is the first to conceive a mechanical model of the cosmos (possibly only one of a series of worlds), to use the principle of sufficient reason and to put forth a theory of evolution.

Thales of Miletus (624 BC - 546 BC)

2008-06-22T05:50:00.000-07:00

Thales' attempt to give a naturalist explanation of the world is regarded as the beginning of science and philosophy. His description rejects the traditional idea of a creator and states that everything in nature is a variation of an originating substance, which functions as a universal controlling force: water. For the Greek material monist, there is no distinction between the organic and the inorganic. "All things are full of gods," he says, meaning that everything encapsulates a divine element (an impersonal soul) which constitutes the motive force causing objects to move and people to act. Thales urges people to lead a just life but believes their morals have a better chance of reforming under an autocratic rule.