There was an interesting discussion in Great Books today regarding the nature of free will and reason in Paradise Lost. More specifically, the question posed was “Is reason the antithesis of free will?” The argument being that if one was using reason, one would (presumably) choose to obey God every time; at least, that is the action with the best outcome.
I disagreed (as I am wont to do), saying that God says (in Paradise Lost) that if man does not have the ability to choose, then man's worship is empty, hollow; it is merely what needs to be done rather than what should be done. There are a bunch on quotes from the text on this: for example, “Not free, what proof could they have giv'n sincere/of true allegiance,” and “What pleasure I from such obedience paid/when will and reason (reason also is choice)/useless and vain, of freedom both despoiled/ made passive both, had served necessity/not me” (V.103-4, 107-11).
From a philosophical standpoint, is this true? It's been a long time since I've read Descartes or Leibniz, the people who most make me think of “applying reason to free will and God.” What about someone like Socrates or Plato? Certainly they would have believed that reason is paramount over all, but what would they have said regarding a “master plan,” or the “destiny” that is mentioned so often in Homer's Odyssey?
I think Descartes would say that there can be no free will without reason. His most famous quote is “cogito ergo sum” surely this means that for Descartes there can be no actual choice without reason. On the idea of destiny well I think that he would also agree to a certain degree. Having a destiny doesn’t necessarily rob you of your will to choose a different path. Matter of fact if God does exist and you believe that he does than you must also believe in “the master plan.” Isn’t the purpose of man, according to the bible, to live a righteous life to get to heaven? I think that Descartes would most definitely agree with this idea of destiny. Then again I’m not Descartes so I can speculate :)
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