Freedom, Fatalism, and Foreknowledge

Freedom, Fatalism, and Foreknowledge

Author: John Martin Fischer

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 0199942390

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This book collects sixteen previously published articles on fatalism, truths about the future, and the relationship between divine foreknowledge and human freedom. It includes a substantial introductory essay and bibliography. Many of the pieces collected here build bridges between discussions of human freedom and recent developments in other areas of metaphysics, such as philosophy of time.


Book Synopsis Freedom, Fatalism, and Foreknowledge by : John Martin Fischer

Download or read book Freedom, Fatalism, and Foreknowledge written by John Martin Fischer and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book collects sixteen previously published articles on fatalism, truths about the future, and the relationship between divine foreknowledge and human freedom. It includes a substantial introductory essay and bibliography. Many of the pieces collected here build bridges between discussions of human freedom and recent developments in other areas of metaphysics, such as philosophy of time.


Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom

Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom

Author: William Lane Craig

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 9789004092501

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The ancient problem of fatalism, more particularly theological fatalism, has resurfaced with surprising vigour in the second half of the twentieth century. Two questions predominate in the debate: (1) Is divine foreknowledge compatible with human freedom and (2) How can God foreknow future free acts? Having surveyed the historical background of this debate in "The Problem of Divine Foreknowledge" and "Future Contingents from Aristotle to Suarez" (Brill: 1988), William Lane Craig now attempts to address these issues critically. His wide-ranging discussion brings together a thought- provoking array of related topics such as logical fatalism, multivalent logic, backward causation, precognition, time travel, counterfactual logic, temporal necessity, Newcomb's Problem, middle knowledge, and relativity theory. The present work serves both as a useful survey of the extensive literature on theological fatalism and related fields and as a stimulating assessment of the possibility of divine foreknowledge of future free acts.


Book Synopsis Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom by : William Lane Craig

Download or read book Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom written by William Lane Craig and published by BRILL. This book was released on 1991 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient problem of fatalism, more particularly theological fatalism, has resurfaced with surprising vigour in the second half of the twentieth century. Two questions predominate in the debate: (1) Is divine foreknowledge compatible with human freedom and (2) How can God foreknow future free acts? Having surveyed the historical background of this debate in "The Problem of Divine Foreknowledge" and "Future Contingents from Aristotle to Suarez" (Brill: 1988), William Lane Craig now attempts to address these issues critically. His wide-ranging discussion brings together a thought- provoking array of related topics such as logical fatalism, multivalent logic, backward causation, precognition, time travel, counterfactual logic, temporal necessity, Newcomb's Problem, middle knowledge, and relativity theory. The present work serves both as a useful survey of the extensive literature on theological fatalism and related fields and as a stimulating assessment of the possibility of divine foreknowledge of future free acts.


The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge

The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge

Author: Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1996-04-25

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0195355407

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This original analysis examines the three leading traditional solutions to the dilemma of divine foreknowledge and human free will--those arising from Boethius, from Ockham, and from Molina. Though all three solutions are rejected in their best-known forms, three new solutions are proposed, and Zagzebski concludes that divine foreknowledge is compatible with human freedom. The discussion includes the relation between the foreknowledge dilemma and problems about the nature of time and the causal relation; the logic of counterfactual conditionals; and the differences between divine and human knowing states. An appendix introduces a new foreknowledge dilemma that purports to show that omniscient foreknowledge conflicts with deep intuitions about temporal asymmetry, quite apart from considerations of free will. Zagzebski shows that only a narrow range of solutions can handle this new dilemma. A compelling contribution to the field, The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge will appeal to students and scholars of theistic philosophy and the philosophy of religion.


Book Synopsis The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge by : Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski

Download or read book The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge written by Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1996-04-25 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This original analysis examines the three leading traditional solutions to the dilemma of divine foreknowledge and human free will--those arising from Boethius, from Ockham, and from Molina. Though all three solutions are rejected in their best-known forms, three new solutions are proposed, and Zagzebski concludes that divine foreknowledge is compatible with human freedom. The discussion includes the relation between the foreknowledge dilemma and problems about the nature of time and the causal relation; the logic of counterfactual conditionals; and the differences between divine and human knowing states. An appendix introduces a new foreknowledge dilemma that purports to show that omniscient foreknowledge conflicts with deep intuitions about temporal asymmetry, quite apart from considerations of free will. Zagzebski shows that only a narrow range of solutions can handle this new dilemma. A compelling contribution to the field, The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge will appeal to students and scholars of theistic philosophy and the philosophy of religion.


The Divine Foreknowledge

The Divine Foreknowledge

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1842

Total Pages: 12

ISBN-13:

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Download or read book The Divine Foreknowledge written by and published by . This book was released on 1842 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


The Mechanics of Divine Foreknowledge and Providence

The Mechanics of Divine Foreknowledge and Providence

Author: T. Ryan Byerly

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2014-08-28

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 162356686X

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How exactly could God achieve infallible foreknowledge of every future event, including the free actions of human persons? How could God exercise careful providence over these same events? Byerly offers a novel response to these important questions by contending that God exercises providence and achieves foreknowledge by ordering the times. The first part of the book defends the importance of the above questions. After characterizing the contemporary freedom-foreknowledge debate, Byerly argues that it has focused too narrowly on a certain argument for theological fatalism, which attempts to show that the existence of infallible divine foreknowledge poses a unique threat to the existence of creaturely libertarian freedom. Byerly contends, however, that bare existence of infallible divine foreknowledge cannot threaten freedom in this way; at most, the mechanics whereby this foreknowledge is achieved might so threaten human freedom. In the second part of the book, Byerly develops a model for understanding the mechanics whereby infallible foreknowledge is achieved that would not threaten creaturely libertarian freedom. According to the model, God infallibly foreknows every future event because God has placed the times that constitute the history of the world in primitive earlier-than relations to one another. After defending the consistency of this model of the mechanics of divine foreknowledge with creaturely libertarian freedom, the author applies it to divine providence more generally. A novel defense of concurrentism is the result.


Book Synopsis The Mechanics of Divine Foreknowledge and Providence by : T. Ryan Byerly

Download or read book The Mechanics of Divine Foreknowledge and Providence written by T. Ryan Byerly and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-08-28 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How exactly could God achieve infallible foreknowledge of every future event, including the free actions of human persons? How could God exercise careful providence over these same events? Byerly offers a novel response to these important questions by contending that God exercises providence and achieves foreknowledge by ordering the times. The first part of the book defends the importance of the above questions. After characterizing the contemporary freedom-foreknowledge debate, Byerly argues that it has focused too narrowly on a certain argument for theological fatalism, which attempts to show that the existence of infallible divine foreknowledge poses a unique threat to the existence of creaturely libertarian freedom. Byerly contends, however, that bare existence of infallible divine foreknowledge cannot threaten freedom in this way; at most, the mechanics whereby this foreknowledge is achieved might so threaten human freedom. In the second part of the book, Byerly develops a model for understanding the mechanics whereby infallible foreknowledge is achieved that would not threaten creaturely libertarian freedom. According to the model, God infallibly foreknows every future event because God has placed the times that constitute the history of the world in primitive earlier-than relations to one another. After defending the consistency of this model of the mechanics of divine foreknowledge with creaturely libertarian freedom, the author applies it to divine providence more generally. A novel defense of concurrentism is the result.


Our Fate

Our Fate

Author: John Martin Fischer

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-01-04

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0190493712

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Our Fate is a collection of John Martin Fischer's previously published articles on the relationship between God's foreknowledge and human freedom. The book contains a new introductory essay that places all of the chapters in the book into a cohesive framework. The introductory essay also provides some new views about the issues treated in the book, including a bold and original account of God's foreknowledge of free actions in a causally indeterministic world. The focus of the book is a powerful traditional argument for the incompatibility of God's foreknowledge and human freedom to do otherwise. Fischer presents this argument (in various forms) and defends it against some of the most salient criticisms, especially Ockhamism. The incompatibilist's argument is driven by the fixity of the past, and, in particular, the fixity of God's prior beliefs about our current behavior. The author gives special attention to Ockhamism, which contends that God's prior beliefs are not "over-and-done-with" in the past, and are thus not subject to the intuitive idea of the fixity of the past. In the end, Fischer defends the argument for the incompatibility of God's foreknowledge and human freedom to do otherwise, but he further argues that this incompatibility need not entail the incompatibility of God's foreknowledge and human moral responsibility. Thus, through this collection of essays, Fischer develops a "semicompatibilist" view--the belief that God's foreknowledge is entirely compatible with human moral responsibility, even if God's foreknowledge rules out freedom to do otherwise.


Book Synopsis Our Fate by : John Martin Fischer

Download or read book Our Fate written by John Martin Fischer and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-01-04 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our Fate is a collection of John Martin Fischer's previously published articles on the relationship between God's foreknowledge and human freedom. The book contains a new introductory essay that places all of the chapters in the book into a cohesive framework. The introductory essay also provides some new views about the issues treated in the book, including a bold and original account of God's foreknowledge of free actions in a causally indeterministic world. The focus of the book is a powerful traditional argument for the incompatibility of God's foreknowledge and human freedom to do otherwise. Fischer presents this argument (in various forms) and defends it against some of the most salient criticisms, especially Ockhamism. The incompatibilist's argument is driven by the fixity of the past, and, in particular, the fixity of God's prior beliefs about our current behavior. The author gives special attention to Ockhamism, which contends that God's prior beliefs are not "over-and-done-with" in the past, and are thus not subject to the intuitive idea of the fixity of the past. In the end, Fischer defends the argument for the incompatibility of God's foreknowledge and human freedom to do otherwise, but he further argues that this incompatibility need not entail the incompatibility of God's foreknowledge and human moral responsibility. Thus, through this collection of essays, Fischer develops a "semicompatibilist" view--the belief that God's foreknowledge is entirely compatible with human moral responsibility, even if God's foreknowledge rules out freedom to do otherwise.


Freedom of the Will

Freedom of the Will

Author: Jonathan Edwards

Publisher:

Published: 1860

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Freedom of the Will by : Jonathan Edwards

Download or read book Freedom of the Will written by Jonathan Edwards and published by . This book was released on 1860 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


The Metasphysics of Free Will

The Metasphysics of Free Will

Author: John Martin Fischer

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 1995-10-09

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1557868573

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The Metaphysics of Free Will provides a through statement of the major grounds for skepticism about the reality of free will and moral responsibility. The author identifies and explains the sort of control that is associated with personhood and accountability, and shows how it is consistent with causal determinism. In so doing, out view of ourselves as morally responsible agents is protected against the disturbing changes posed by science and religion.


Book Synopsis The Metasphysics of Free Will by : John Martin Fischer

Download or read book The Metasphysics of Free Will written by John Martin Fischer and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 1995-10-09 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Metaphysics of Free Will provides a through statement of the major grounds for skepticism about the reality of free will and moral responsibility. The author identifies and explains the sort of control that is associated with personhood and accountability, and shows how it is consistent with causal determinism. In so doing, out view of ourselves as morally responsible agents is protected against the disturbing changes posed by science and religion.


Free Will and Classical Theism

Free Will and Classical Theism

Author: Hugh J. McCann

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 0190611200

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The articles in the present collection deal with the religious dimension of the problem of free will. All of the papers also have implications for broader philosophical and theological issues, and will thus be of interest to a wide variety of scholars, both religious and secular. Together they provide a historical and contemporary overview of problems in the theology of freedom, together with recent work by some important philosophers in the field aimed at resolving those problems. The chapters are divided into four sections. The first addresses central issues about the nature of free will and how free will relates to theological topics such as theological fatalism and the problem of evil. The second section focuses on historical debates about free will and theism, but with an eye toward how those historical discussions can be brought into discussion with contemporary debates. The third section aims to address and understand divine freedom, while the final section explores implications of the doctrine of divine omnicausality.


Book Synopsis Free Will and Classical Theism by : Hugh J. McCann

Download or read book Free Will and Classical Theism written by Hugh J. McCann and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The articles in the present collection deal with the religious dimension of the problem of free will. All of the papers also have implications for broader philosophical and theological issues, and will thus be of interest to a wide variety of scholars, both religious and secular. Together they provide a historical and contemporary overview of problems in the theology of freedom, together with recent work by some important philosophers in the field aimed at resolving those problems. The chapters are divided into four sections. The first addresses central issues about the nature of free will and how free will relates to theological topics such as theological fatalism and the problem of evil. The second section focuses on historical debates about free will and theism, but with an eye toward how those historical discussions can be brought into discussion with contemporary debates. The third section aims to address and understand divine freedom, while the final section explores implications of the doctrine of divine omnicausality.


God, Foreknowledge, and Freedom

God, Foreknowledge, and Freedom

Author: John Martin Fischer

Publisher:

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 9780804721554

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If God now knows that you will do something in the future, can you nevertheless be free to do otherwise? In recent years there has been much interesting new work on the venerable question of divine foreknowledge and the freedom of the human will - a question that has haunted Christian thought nearly from its inception and is familiar from Boethius and Milton even to those with little awareness of other theological issues. The authors of these twelve essays attempt to articulate an argument that, if sound, would show that God's forknowledge is incompatible with human freedom to do otherwise. They do not all agree that the argument is sound, but they attempt to state precisely why one might worry that God's forknowledge is incompatible with human freedom. Some of the authors also distinguish the argument for the incompatibility of God's foreknowledge and human freedom from similar arguments for the incompatibility of the present truth of propositions about the future and human freedom, and from arguments for the incompatibility of human foreknowledge and human freedom.


Book Synopsis God, Foreknowledge, and Freedom by : John Martin Fischer

Download or read book God, Foreknowledge, and Freedom written by John Martin Fischer and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If God now knows that you will do something in the future, can you nevertheless be free to do otherwise? In recent years there has been much interesting new work on the venerable question of divine foreknowledge and the freedom of the human will - a question that has haunted Christian thought nearly from its inception and is familiar from Boethius and Milton even to those with little awareness of other theological issues. The authors of these twelve essays attempt to articulate an argument that, if sound, would show that God's forknowledge is incompatible with human freedom to do otherwise. They do not all agree that the argument is sound, but they attempt to state precisely why one might worry that God's forknowledge is incompatible with human freedom. Some of the authors also distinguish the argument for the incompatibility of God's foreknowledge and human freedom from similar arguments for the incompatibility of the present truth of propositions about the future and human freedom, and from arguments for the incompatibility of human foreknowledge and human freedom.