Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: In this article, I delve into Wittgenstein’s early manuscripts to examine the idea of an “alien will”, which may have been inspired by Schopenhauer and Weininger. By contrast with other interpretations, I treat this notion not as a metaphor but as the fundamental idea that the world is independent of an individual’s will and appears instead to be influenced by a quasi-divine, alien will. This alien will, distinct from personal will, could either coincide or conflict with an individual subject’s will, affecting their happiness. I argue that this (dis)agreement involves the modal properties of objects rather than being a matter of factual consistency. Ultimately, I position Wittgenstein’s views as a form of pre-emptive compatibilism, according to which divine will shapes human conditions without compromising free will. This contributes a significant perspective to debates in the philosophy of religion.
Source: Religions
DOI: 10.3390/rel15121567
Author: Jakub Mácha
Institution: Masaryk University
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,046
OpenAlex ID: W4405699232