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Free will may not be a universal problem, but it is also not only confined to Christianity, as shown in the case of Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta. The authors of this school of Indian philosophy, founded in the 11th c. and still inf luential up until today, had to face the challenge of accounting for human autonomy and God’s omnipotence. Their solution was to create a precinct for free will in human minds, whereas all actions depend on God. Thus, God does not interfere with the initial determination of human free will and it later supports human intentions, thus permitting that they are turned into action.
Journal of World Philosophies 3 (Winter 2018), pp. 24–48
Hard Theological Determinism and the Illusion of Free Will: Sri Ramakrishna Meets Lord Kames, Saul Smilansky, and Derk Pereboom (Journal of World Philosophies)This essay reconstructs the sophisticated views on free will and determinism of the nineteenth-century Hindu mystic Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) and brings them into dialogue with the views of three Western philosophers—namely, the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher Lord Kames (1696-1782) and the contemporary analytic philosophers Saul Smilansky and Derk Pereboom. Sri Ramakrishna affirms hard theological determinism, the view that God determines everything we do and think. At the same time, however, he claims that God, in His infinite wisdom, has endowed ordinary unenlightened people with the illusion of free will for the sake of their moral and spiritual welfare. Kames, I suggest, defends a theological determinist position remarkably similar to Sri Ramakrishna's. However, I argue that Sri Ramakrishna's mystical orientation puts him in a better position than Kames to explain why a loving God would implant in us the illusion of free will in the first place. I then show how certain aspects of the views of Smilansky and Pereboom resonate with those of Sri Ramakrishna.
PhD dissertation, University of Chicago
Freedom and self-control: Free will in South Asian Buddhism2010 •
This dissertation examines whether something like free will is implied by or consistent with the causal, ethical and soteriological theories presented in the works of the fifth century Indian Buddhist master, Vasubandhu (namely, the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya and Karmasiddhiprakaraṇa) and in the Theravādin Abhidhamma. I argue that Vasubandhu and his Thervādin counterparts assume persons have the ability to choose or control their actions and have the conceptual resources to account for these freedoms. I also explain why it is a mistake to read their claims about action and causation through the lens of the categories and assumptions that inform the modern, Western debate over free will. I demonstrate that, despite what some interpreters have claimed (and despite significant differences in between their causal theories), neither Vasubandhu or his Theravādin counterparts engage with the problem of causal determinism. They do, however, deny agent causation and explain a person’s ability to control his actions in terms of the impersonal mental events that issue in action. The result is a view of action similar to some forms of compatibilism, but unlike most compatibilists, they are not primarily concerned with the rational control required for moral responsibility, but with the self-control required for liberation--a self-control born of habit, affection and moral sentiment as much as responsiveness to reason. I pay particular attention to the role the distinguishing feature of karma, intending (cetanā), plays in both incontinent action and the cultivation of this self-control. Conceiving of a karmic result as a kind of moral desert, many interpreters take intending to signal some variety of free will, but an intending is simply the movement of a mind toward an object or end. I explain how this movement may be sensitive to desire and reason and thus amenable to various sorts of control, but also unconscious or compelled in ways that we and/or Buddhists would not consider free. In the final part of the dissertation, I explain how the view that persons are free to choose or control their actions is consistent with the view that actions are caused by impersonal mental events such as intendings and why both perspectives on action are essential to the Buddhist soteriological project.
My first delving into the subject of Free Will at a graduate level tackling modern issues and novel ideas that under cut the determinism/free will debate through non-western thinking.
International Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, (IJHSSE), volume 10, Issue 6, pp. 25-29
Some Dilemmas Concerning the Notion of Free will, in IJHSSE, volume 10, Issue 6, pp. 25-29As we know, there is a difference between a simple wish and the will of an individual. Not only a concrete action is required in order to alleviate the impact of various factors that inhibit the former before it becomes ‘will’, but also a deep level of human consciousness. It implies conscientious motivation, clear goals, etc. My paper introduces some of the elements instrumental in the leap from the wish to the human will. As the issue of Free Will shall be central to the paper because when I say ‘human will’ I refer to ‘free will’, I have to mention that I adopt a pragmatic perspective on this notion. I. e. even though, as quantum physics tell us, any decision we make is conditioned by realities pertaining to it, we do not think of this state of affair when we carry out our activities – at least not always. Because of that we feel free – free enough to be able to function according to social norms.
issues in free will and Divine prescience in Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism in the middle ages.
2010 •
The kind of approach to the subject of divine will and human freedom that dominates the religious outlook (belief system) of Muslims is that major events such as life, death, livelihood, etc., if not all that happens, are divinely preordained, fixed, and inevitable — i.e., unalterable by human effort. Such a belief is encouraged by the Hadith literature and the opinions of some Muslim theologians. However, the Quran does not support this belief. This article demonstrates, in light of the Quran, that this idea is a major misconception. The Quran strongly upholds human freedom, responsibility, and accountability. Destiny, of course, plays a part in human life. But that part often gets overemphasized to the virtual exclusion of human freedom. The truth is, as it has been throughout the history of human civilization, that man is largely the architect of his own destiny. If that is not the case, the whole foundation of religion falls apart.
Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, Springer India
Freedom of the Will and No-Self in Buddhism2018 •
The Buddha, unlike the Upaniṣadic or Brahmanical way, has avoided the concept of the self, and it seems to be left with limited conceptual possibilities for free will and moral responsibility. Now, the question is, if the self is crucial for free will, then how can free will be conceptualized in the Buddhist ‘no-self’ (anattā) doctrine. Nevertheless, the Buddha accepts a dynamic notion of cetanā (intention/volition), and it explicitly implies that he rejects the ultimate or absolute freedom of the will, but not the minimal power of free will. It seems that the Buddha’s view shifts from agent causation (independent ownership) to a causal sequence of impersonal processes (psychophysical factors). This paper claims to shed clarity on ‘whether free will is viable in the context of the anattāvāda in Buddhism.’ It mainly studies the secondary sources (even though it has also discussed the primary sources) and their interpretations of freedom of the will and how it further does argue for a compatibility approach of free will in Buddhist thought.
2017 •
2021 •
Dynamic Logic. New Trends and Applications
A Dynamic Informational-Epistemic Logic2018 •
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