Descartes' response to the Theological determinism problem
Just a reminder of what the problem is:
Since God by definition knows the future, and what He knows must come to pass, is it then possible for my actions to be free? And if they are not, then is God the author of sin? And if they are, then how can God know the future?
Descartes claims that the soul is a thing that wills, thinks, believes, hates, etc. One of the most important aspects of the soul, according to Descartes, is its will: Descartes even says in his Meditations that the will is one of the ways man most closely resembles God's image. In accordance with this Descartes claims that the will is something which cannot be limited. He simply believes that a will (the ability to affirm or deny something) is inescapably and by nature unlimited. Hence, for Descartes it is very easy to see where "free will" comes into play; it is merely a product of the fact that God created us with a soul, and this soul has the ability to will.
So God's foreknowledge then foreknows what we are going to do, but this foreknowledge does not "limit" our ability to choose because NOTHING can limit our ability to choose. Seem too simplistic? Well, as I said before, I am going to limit my criticisms until after I have presented what are the most common responses to the free will problem. I will only then make an attempt to attack the views, and perhaps in the process find a convincing answer.
Posted by at March 1, 2001 12:58 AM