Posted by Vitaly Martiniuk on November 22, 1999 at 22:22:12:

In Reply to: free will and determinism posted by jon on August 12, 1999 at 06:59:51:

The trials of Galileo and others emphasise the clash of values at the heart of the Age of Enlightenment: is God free to disobey the laws of logic?

Spinoza, resolutely logical as ever, erted that God has the perfect freedom: to behave exactly like God.

Moreover, God is the only thing that has this freedom. Everything (and everyone) else is fully determined by the nature of God.

Furthermore, the idea that there is some kind of divine purpose to human existence is equally foolish; the infinite being does not deal in purpose.

In other words, 'Free Will', whose nature has been hotly debated since the ancient Greeks, is nothing but a sentimental myth. There can be no Free Will.

But even though nothing can act in isolation, meaningful action persists: the maintenance of individual identity becomes not so much a possibility as a powerful obligation

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Follow Ups:

• Re: free will and determinism Pat Adams 02:41:47 8/30/100 (0)
• Re: free will and determinism Pat Adams 02:40:17 8/30/100 (0)
• Re: free will and determinism Pat Adams 02:39:03 8/30/100 (0)

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