when we analyze our thoughts or ideas, however compounded or sublime, we always find that they resolve themselves into such simple ideas as were copied from a precedent feeling or sentiment. Even thos...
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07/03/2010 It seems that Augustine's view of grace versus free will reacts in a similar fashion. Grace is that act of god by which our souls can turn from a carnal and sinful existence to look toward the world above, toward god. This implies that the only way to achieve glory is through god, a view in keeping with biblical text. However, the same argument states explicitly that we cannot achieve glory through ourselves without the blessings of god. This would seem to mean that free will is not enough in and of itself to achieve virtue. Hume says it is not reasoning, but custom that separates man's gathering of knowledge from animals. |
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12/03/2010 At the end of Section 9 Hume writes: "But our wonder will perhaps cease or diminish when we consider that the experimental (experiential) reasoning itself, which we possess in common with beasts, and on which the whole of conduct depends, is nothing but a species of instinct or mechanical power that acts in us unknown to ourselves, and in its chief operations is not directed by any such relations or comparison of ideas as are the proper objects of our intellectual faculties." Hume's argument that human instincts are similar to animal instincts, however humans differ from animals in regards to the facts makes sense, but it makes more sense to combine experience with thought. Descartes was a rationalist. Like many philosophers, novelists, and poets of his time, he questioned his own existence, and his reason for being, man's purpose in the scheme of the universe. Descartes set forth a number of philosophical trends. The questions he asks is where do I fit? Decartes was concerned with how we come to ourselves, our identity. He wished to discover truths where there could be no doubt. He believed in a dualism of mind and body, that they were two separate parts. This allowed him to uncover the only truth he could not deny "I think, therefore I am." In Philosophy Now, Paula Rothenberg Struhl and Karsten J. Struhl claim: However, Descartes argues that there is one thing that is absolutely certain. I cannot doubt the existence of the self that has these doubts. Thus, for Descartes, "I think, therefore I am" is the fundamental axiom from which all philosophy must begin. The "I" that thinks is defined simply as a thinking thing, and from this, it follows that the essential nature of the self is the mind, as distinct from the body. (Struhl, Paula Rothenberg, and Struhl Karsten J., editors, Philosophy Now. Random House: 1980, P. 87) |
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09/03/2010 Augustine, however, emphasizes that free will does exist. Is this not a contrary position? Or does the concept of free will versus grace constitute another ambiguous, inexplicable belief-understanding? The idea that we, as human beings alone, have the capacity to determine our own life (whether we turn toward sin or virtue) is the idea of free will. It is our choice and, thus, our responsibility to choose the path of righteousness or the path of sin. This concepts serves to distance god from the tragedy of a human taking the wrong path and suffering the consequences. Because of free will, we cannot blame god for this travesty. The concept of grace, however, distances the ethical human being from the respect of having chosen a positive path. According to Plato, the soul consists of three basic energies which animate human beings: Reason, Emotion, and Appetite. Reason is given the greatest value, while Emotion and especially Appetite are regarded as the "lower passions". The soul that is ordered is governed by Reason, and therefore keeps one's emotions and one's appetites under control. The lower passions *must* submit to the dictates of Reason. |