All That Heaven Allows: Boethius on Divine Foreknowledge, Contingency, and Free Choice
In the last book of The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius develops his solution to the problem of divine foreknowledge and free choice. Interpreters standardly hold that this problem and his solution to it presuppose causal indeterminism. In this paper, I argue that Boethius, following a Neoplaton...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Brill
2024
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In: |
Phronesis
Year: 2024, Volume: 69, Issue: 2, Pages: 182-225 |
Further subjects: | B
Free Will
B Proclus B The Consolation of Philosophy B Boethius B Eternity B Foreknowledge |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | In the last book of The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius develops his solution to the problem of divine foreknowledge and free choice. Interpreters standardly hold that this problem and his solution to it presuppose causal indeterminism. In this paper, I argue that Boethius, following a Neoplatonist view found in Proclus, is a causal determinist and compatibilist and maintains that God’s providential knowledge ensures the occurrence of all the events he knows. This alternative interpretation offers a better fit with Boethius’s text and its historical antecedents and provides resources to address the main criticisms of his solution. |
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ISSN: | 1568-5284 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Phronesis
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685284-bja10085 |