Milton as Servant, Satan as Existentialist: Competing Conceptions of Freedom in Paradise Lost
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: In Paradise Lost Milton presents competing conceptions of freedom.These two main perspectives vary drastically, with the requisite condition on freedom being hotly disputed.Satan holds it to be autonomy, while Milton enlists God, Man, and the angels to argue that it is obedience.My purpose is twofold.After examining Milton's portrayal of the rival views, I attempt to cast doubt on his assertion that freedom as obedience to God is innately superior to a conception like Satan's, which hinges on self-determination.I then offer a more holistic ob.ection to Milton's conception of freedom by arguing that it employs irreconcilable notions.These are free will in the libertarian sense and a determinate nature endowed by God.Drawing upon the thought of David Hume, I explain why these two notions are irreconcilable.I then examine the general tenability of the libertarian conception of free will in light of some interesting insights from existentialism and contemporary theology, arguing that if libertarian free will is indeed possible, it relies on the very conception of freedom as self-determination that Milton attempts to rule out.I conclude by emphasizing the dilemma Milton that faces and by affirming the proper conception of freedom in the sense he is after to be self-determination.
Author: Peter Zuk
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3118024600