‘All is Foreseen, and Freedom of Choice is Granted’: A Scotistic Examination of God's Freedom, Divine Foreknowledge and the Arbitrary Use of Power
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Following an Open conception of Divine Foreknowledge, that holds that man is endowed with genuine freedom and so the future is not definitely determined, it will be claimed that human freedom does not limit the divine power, but rather enhances it and presents us with a barrier against arbitrary use of that power.This reading will be implemented to reconcile a well-known quarrel between two important interpreters of Duns Scotus, Allan B. Wolter and Thomas Williams, each of whom supports a different interpretation of the way God acts according to right reason.Duns Scotus perceives that the ultimate raison d'être of the incarnation lies in God himself, and consequently, creation serves God's desires.This presents a frightening picture of a God who acts as he pleases.Such a God, who created the world for his own reasons, seems to have no obligation towards creation itself and its creatures.Appalled by such a possibility, some interpreters found refuge in Scotus's words that 'whatever God made, you may be sure he made it in accordance with right reason,' 1 whereas others rejected any attempt to subjugate God to any kind of objectified necessitation: 'right actions are right simply because God has freely and contingently commanded them, and wrong actions are wrong simply because God has freely and contingently forbidden them.' 2 The question arises that, if we cannot introduce any objectified truth or good to limit power, perhaps it is possible to find
Source: The Heythrop Journal
DOI: 10.1111/heyj.12819
Author: Liran Shia Gordon
Institution: Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2769449656