Varieties of Voluntarism in Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy

This book considers different forms of voluntarism developed from the thirteenth to eighteenth centuries. By crossing the conventional dividing line between the medieval and early modern periods, the volume draws important new insights on the historical development of voluntarism. Voluntarism places a special emphasis on the will when it comes to the analysis and explanation of fundamental philosophical questions and problems. Since the Middle Ages, voluntarist considerations and views played an important role in the development of different theories of action, ethics, metaethics, and metaphysics. The chapters in this volume are grouped according to three distinct kinds of voluntarism: psychological, ethical, and theological voluntarism. They address topics such as the threat of irrationality as the standard objection to voluntarism, incontinent actions and their explanation, the nature of the will as rational appetite, the relationship between intellect and will, the implications of conceptions of the will for political freedom, and the relations between divine freedom and the modal status of eternal truths. The chapters not only consider towering figures of the Middle Ages-Thomas Aquinas, Henry of Ghent, William of Ockham, Francisco de Vitoria-and early modern period-Ren Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Samuel Pufendorf-but also engage with less well-known figures such as Peter John Olivi, John of Pouilly, Catharine Trotter Cockburn, and Christian August Crusius. Varieties of Voluntarism in Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy will appeal to scholars and advanced students working in medieval philosophy, early modern philosophy, the history of ethics, and philosophy of religion. This book considers different forms of voluntarism developed from the 13th to 18th centuries. By crossing the conventional dividing line between the medieval and early modern periods, the volume draws important new insights on the historical development of voluntarism. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Acknowledgements 9 List of Contributors 10 Abbreviations 14 Introduction: Voluntarism: Central Philosophical Issues and Problems 16 1 The Topic of Voluntarism and Its Philosophical Significance 16 2 Varieties of Voluntarism in Their Historical Development 20 2.1 Psychological Voluntarism 20 2.2 Ethical Voluntarism 25 2.3 Theological Voluntarism 30 3 Concluding Remarks 34 Notes 36 Bibliography 37 Primary Sources 37 Secondary Literature 38 Part I: Psychological Voluntarism 40 Chapter 1: Does Voluntarism Lead to Irrationalism?: A Medieval Case Study 42 1.1 Introduction: The Threat of Irrationalism 42 1.2 Intellectual Determinism 45 1.3 Efficient and Occasional Causes 48 1.4 Conclusion 54 Acknowledgements 56 Notes 56 Bibliography 58 Primary Sources 58 Secondary Literature 59 Chapter 2: Voluntarism and Aristotelian Akrasia: Radicalizing Views on Incontinence around 1277 61 2.1 Introduction 61 2.2 The Conceptual Framework: Incontinent Action and Aristotelian Akrasia 62 2.3 Before 1277: Accommodating Aristotelian Akrasia 64 2.4 The Condemnation of 1277: Articulating the Voluntarist Stance 69 2.5 After 1277: Radicalizing Incontinence 70 2.6 Conclusion 74 Notes 76 Bibliography 79 Primary Sources 79 Secondary Literature 80 Chapter 3: Henry of Ghent and John of Pouilly on “Aristotle’s Prophecy about Incontinence” 82 3.1 Introduction 82 3.2 Henry of Ghent 83 3.3 John of Pouilly 86 3.3.1 Three Conditions for Judgement-Volition Conformity 87 3.3.2 Pouilly’s Account of Aristotle’s Explanation of Incontinence 89 3.3.3 The Practical Syllogisms of “the Saints” 91 3.4 Conclusion 93 Acknowledgements 93 Manuscripts 94 Notes 94 Bibliography 99 Primary Sources 99 Secondary Literature 100 Chapter 4: Descartes and Leibniz on the Nature of the Will 101 4.1 Introduction 101 4.2 Descartes’s Conception of the Will 102 4.3 Leibniz against the Cartesian Conception of Will 106 4.4 Leibniz’s Conception of the Will 109 4.5 Conclusion: Some Consequences of Descartes’s and Leibniz’s Different Conceptions of the Will 112 Acknowledgements 114 Notes 114 Bibliography 117 Primary Sources 117 Secondary Literature 118 Chapter 5: Faith and Will in Francisco de Vitoria 120 5.1 Introduction 120 5.2 The Regular Functioning of the Act of Faith 122 5.2.1 The Cognitive Process of the Act of Faith 122 5.2.2 The Movement of the Will 124 5.3 The Scholastic Background of Vitoria’s Theory 126 5.4 Francisco de Vitoria’s Twofold Voluntarism 128 5.5 Conclusion 131 Notes 132 Bibliography 135 Primary Sources 135 Secondary Literature 136 Part II: Ethical Voluntarism 138 Chapter 6: The Blind Will Is No King: Henry of Ghent’s Voluntarism and the Act of Choice 140 6.1 Introduction 140 6.2 Choosing on the Basis of a Judgement 140 6.3 Choice and the Influence of Reason on the Will 143 6.4 The Cognitivity of the Will 147 6.5 Conclusion 152 Acknowledgements 153 Notes 153 Bibliography 155 Primary Sources 155 Secondary Literature 156 Chapter 7: Descartes’s Conception of Freedom: Between Voluntarism and Intellectualism 158 7.1 Introduction 158 7.2 The Puzzle of Freedom in Descartes 159 7.3 Interpretive Strategies 162 7.4 The Two-Aspect Model of Cartesian Freedom 163 7.5 Taking Descartes’s Ethics into Account 166 7.5.1 Generosity: The Key Cartesian Virtue 168 7.5.2 Weak and Strong Souls 168 7.5.3 The Freedom of the Embodied Thinking Thing 170 7.6 Conclusion 171 Notes 172 Bibliography 174 Primary Sources 174 Secondary Literature 174 Chapter 8: Hobbes against Liberum Arbitrium 176 8.1 The Problem of Self-Determination 176 8.2 Self-Determination and Contingency 178 8.3 Hobbes Denies Contingent Causation 184 8.4 Hobbes Denies Self-Determination 185 8.5 Conclusion 192 Notes 193 Bibliography 194 Primary Sources 194 Secondary Literature 194 Chapter 9: Freedom of the Will and the Passions in Pufendorf’s Action Theory 195 9.1 Introduction 195 9.2 Volitional Control of Actions and Moral Accountability 197 9.3 Effective Volition and the Control of Passions 200 9.4 Extreme Necessity and Mixed Actions 204 9.5 Habituation and Political Governance 205 9.6 Conclusion 208 Notes 209 Bibliography 212 Primary Sources 212 Secondary Literature 212 Chapter 10: Heavenly “Freedom” in Fourteenth-Century Voluntarism 214 10.1 Introduction 214 10.2 Late Medieval Voluntarism and the Freedom to Sin 216 10.3 Scotus, Harclay, Ockham, and Chatton on the Cause of the Impeccability of the Blessed 219 10.4 Marguerite Porete on the Annihilation of Creaturely Wills 224 Acknowledgements 226 Notes 226 Bibliography 229 Primary Sources 229 Secondary Literature 230 Part III: Theological Voluntarism 232 Chapter 11: From Moral to Modal Voluntarism: Descartes on the Status of Eternal Truths 234 11.1 Introduction 234 11.2 Cartesian Freedom, Human and Divine 236 11.3 Cartesian Essences 240 11.4 From Moral Voluntarism to Modal Voluntarism 244 11.5 Conclusion 245 Acknowledgments 246 Notes 246 Bibliography 248 Primary Sources 248 Secondary Literature 249 Chapter 12: Grounding the Principle of Plenitude, or Why Leibniz Rehabilitated Divine Will 250 12.1 Introduction 250 12.2 From Spinoza to Leibniz: The Common View 252 12.3 Adding the Principle of Plenitude 254 12.4 A Problem 256 12.5 Leibniz’s Development, or His Views on the Actual Existence of Possible Beings 257 12.6 A Spinozist Critique of Leibniz, and a Philosophical Last Word 261 Notes 263 Bibliography 264 Primary Sources 264 Secondary Literature 264 Chapter 13: Catharine Trotter Cockburn against Theological Voluntarism 266 13.1 Introduction 266 13.2 Cockburn’s Metaphysics of Morality 267 13.3 Cockburn on the Practice of Morality 268 13.4 Cockburn’s Arguments against Theological Voluntarism 272 13.4.1 Arguments against Arbitrariness 272 13.4.2 Arguments Concerning God as Creator 273 13.4.3 Arguments Concerning Moral Obligation and the Role of a Superior Lawmaker 276 13.5 Conclusion 279 Acknowledgements 279 Notes 279 Bibliography 283 Primary Sources 283 Secondary Literature 284 Chapter 14: Crusius against the Arbitrariness of Moral Obligation: An Alternative to Theological Voluntarism? 286 14.1 Introduction 286 14.2 The Arbitrariness Objection: Crusius’s Version 287 14.2.1 Moral Goodness and the Moral Law 288 14.2.2 Crusius’s Conception of a Ground 291 14.3 Divine Authority 293 14.3.1 The Grounding of God’s Double Authority 295 14.4 Conclusion 297 Notes 298 Bibliography 302 Primary Sources 302 Secondary Literature 303 Index 305 freedom;,moral,truths;,John,Duns,Scotus;,passions;,Henry,of,Ghent;,Walter,of,Bruges;,principle,of,sufficient,reason;,Descartes;,divine,voluntarism;,second-order,acts,of,the,soul;,Crusius;,Jörn,Müller;,voluntarism;,Siger,of,Brabant;,medieval,philosophy;,free,will;,history,of,philosophy;,Catharine,Trotter,Cockburn;,Thomas,Aquinas;,John,Locke;,William,of,Ockham;,John,of,Pouilly;,incontinence;,Hobbes-Bramhall,debate;,Anton,Wilhelm,Amo;,Sonja,Schierbaum;,early,modern,philosophy;,Francisco,de,Vitoria;,Samuel,Pufendorf;,incontinent,actions;,Peter,Olivi;,irrationalism;,principle,of,plenitude;,Leibniz freedom,moral truths,John Duns Scotus,passions,Henry of Ghent,Walter of Bruges,principle of sufficient reason,Descartes,divine voluntarism,second-order acts of the soul,Crusius,Jörn Müller,voluntarism,Siger of Brabant,medieval philosophy,free will,history of philosophy,Catharine Trotter Cockburn,Thomas Aquinas,John Locke,William of Ockham,John of Pouilly,incontinence,Hobbes-Bramhall debate,Anton Wilhelm Amo,Sonja Schierbaum,early modern philosophy,Francisco de Vitoria,Samuel Pufendorf,incontinent actions,Peter Olivi,irrationalism,principle of plenitude,Leibniz This book considers different forms of voluntarism developed from the thirteenth to eighteenth centuries. By crossing the conventional dividing line between the medieval and early modern periods, the volume draws important new insights on the historical development of voluntarism.Voluntarism places a special emphasis on the will when it comes to the analysis and explanation of fundamental philosophical questions and problems. Since the Middle Ages, voluntarist considerations and views played an important role in the development of different theories of action, ethics, metaethics, and metaphysics. The chapters in this volume are grouped according to three distinct kinds of voluntarism: psychological, ethical, and theological voluntarism. They address topics such as the threat of irrationality as the standard objection to voluntarism, incontinent actions and their explanation, the nature of the will as rational appetite, the relationship between intellect and will, the implications of conceptions of the will for political freedom, and the relations between divine freedom and the modal status of eternal truths. The chapters not only consider towering figures of the Middle Ages—Thomas Aquinas, Henry of Ghent, William of Ockham, Francisco de Vitoria—and early modern period—René Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Samuel Pufendorf—but also engage with less well-known figures such as Peter John Olivi, John of Pouilly, Catharine Trotter Cockburn, and Christian August Crusius.Varieties of Voluntarism in Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy will appeal to scholars and advanced students working in medieval philosophy, early modern philosophy, the history of ethics, and philosophy of religion. This book considers different forms of voluntarism developed from the 13th to 18th centuries. By crossing the conventional dividing line between the medieval and early modern periods, the volume draws important new insights on the historical development of voluntarism. Voluntarism places a special emphasis on the will when it comes to the analysis and explanation of fundamental philosophical questions and problems. Since the Middle Ages, voluntarist considerations and views played an important role in the development of different theories of action, ethics, metaethics, and metaphysics. The chapters in this volume are grouped according to three distinct kinds of voluntarism: psychological, ethical, and theological voluntarism. They address topics such as the threat of irrationality as the standard objection to voluntarism, incontinent actions and their explanation, the nature of the will as rational appetite, the relationship between intellect and will, the implications of conceptions of the will for political freedom, and the relations between divine freedom and the modal status of eternal truths. The chapters not only consider towering figures of the Middle Ages--Thomas Aquinas, Henry of Gent, William of Ockham, Francisco de Vitoria--and early modern period--René Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Samuel Pufendorf--but also engage with less well-known figures such as Peter John Olivi, John of Pouilly, Catharine Trotter Cockburn, and Christian August Crusius. Varieties of Voluntarism in Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy will appeal to scholars and advanced students working in medieval philosophy, early modern philosophy, the history of ethics, and philosophy of religion.