Fate, Providence and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age

This volume, edited by René Brouwer and Emmanuele Vimercati, deals with the debate about fate, providence and free will in the early Imperial age. This debate is rekindled in the 1st century CE during emperor Augustus' rule and ends in the 3rd century CE with Plotinus and Origen, when the different positions in the debate were more or less fully developed. The book aims to show how in this period the notions of fate, providence and freedom were developed and debated, not only within and between the main philosophical schools, that is Stoicism, Aristotelianism, and Platonism, but also in the interaction with other, "religious" movements, here understood in the general sense of groups of people sharing beliefs in and worship of (a) superhuman controlling power(s), such as Gnosticism, Hermetism as well as Judaism and Christianity. Contents Notes on Contributors Introduction Chapter 1. Fate, Providence, and Free Will: Why Bother? Chapter 2. Divine and Human Will in Imperial Stoicism Chapter 3. Epictetus on What Is in Our Power: Modal versus Epistemic Conceptions Chapter 4. Providence and Cosmology in Philo of Alexandria Chapter 5. Providence and Responsibility in Philo of Alexandria. An Analysis of Genesis 2.9 Chapter 6. Stoic Freedom in Paul's Letter to the Romans 6.1–8.30 and Epictetus, Dissertation 4.1: from Being under an Obligation to Wanting Chapter 7. Middle Platonists on Fate and Providence. God, Creation, and the Governance of the World Chapter 8. Determinism and Deliberation in Alexander of Aphrodisias Chapter 9. Alexander of Aphrodisias on Fate as a Problem in Epistemology and Moral Psychology Chapter 10. Free Will According to the Gnostics Chapter 11. Providence, Fate and Freedom of the Hermetic Sage Chapter 12. Early Christian Philosophers on Free Will Chapter 13. Divine Causality. Demiurge and Providence in Plotinus Chapter 14. Lithoi Pheromenoi. Fate, Soul and Self-Determination in Enneads 3.1 Chapter 15. ``Both Sun and Night Are Servants for Mortals''? Providence in Celsus' True Account Chapter 16. Providence, Free Will and Predestination in Origen Index of Passages General Ιndex "This volume, edited by René Brouwer and Emmanuele Vimercati, deals with the debate about fate, providence and free will in the early Imperial age. This debate is rekindled in the 1st century CE during emperor Augustus' rule and ends in the 3rd century CE with Plotinus and Origen, when the different positions in the debate were more or less fully developed. The book aims to show how in this period the notions of fate, providence and freedom were developed and debated, not only within and between the main philosophical schools, that is Stoicism, Aristotelianism, and Platonism, but also in the interaction with other, "religious" movements, here understood in the general sense of groups of people sharing beliefs in and worship of (a) superhuman controlling power(s), such as Gnosticism, Hermetism as well as Judaism and Christianity"-- Provided by publisher This volume offers a collection of papers about the notions of fate, providence, and free will, as developed and debated in philosophy and religion in the early Imperial age (ca. 31 BCE-250 CE).