An investigation of the question of human agency and freedom in Thomas Reid's philosophy of action
In philosophy the 'free will question' viz., ~do we have free will by which we can freely perform an action of our own?~ has been the cause and interest of one of the oldest debates of philosophy. The historical background of the 'free will debate' and of its participants can be traced back to the philosophy of Hellenistic (era) that covers the Peripatetic, Epicurean and Stoics schools. Then, it is extended from the Medieval tradition (St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas and so on) through the Modern (era) philosophy (the Cartesian, the Empiricists and the Common Sense Schools) to the Contemporary philosophy of action. Almost all philosophers of these schools have either directly or indirectly been involved in the debate. Today what we have inherited from this debate, which still continues, is three main doctrines. These are: 'libertarianism', 'determinism', 'compatibilism' (or 'soft determinism'). In fact all these doctrines give rise to the idea that today ~there is no single philosophical problem that is the problem of free will. There are rather a great many philosophical problems about free will.~ (01). This thesis, in the historical frame that has been given above, shall undertake the evaluation of the
Acikoz, Haci Mustafa
Free will debate; Common sense
An investigation of the question of human agency and freedom in Thomas Reid's philosophy of action. In philosophy the 'free will question' viz., ~do we have free will by which we can freely perform an action of our own?~ has been the cause and interest of one of the oldest debates of philosophy. The historical background of the 'free will debate' and of its participants can be traced back to the philosophy of Hellenistic (era) that covers the Peripatetic, Epicurean and Stoics schools. Then, it is extended from the Medieval tradition (St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas and so on) through the Modern (era) philosophy (the Cartesian, the Empiricists and the Common Sense Schools) to the Contemporary philosophy of action. Almost all philosophers of these schools have either directly or indirectly been involved in the debate. Today what we have inherited from this debate, which still continues, is three main doctrines. These are: 'libertarianism', 'determinism', 'compatibilism' (or 'soft determinism'). In fact all these doctrines give rise to the idea that today ~there is no single philosophical problem that is the problem of free will. There are rather a great many philosophical problems about free will.~ (01). This thesis, in the historical frame that has been given above, shall undertake the evaluation of the
investigation question human_agency freedom thomas_reid philosophy_action philosophy free question viz free freely perform action cause interest old debate philosophy historical_background free debate participant trace_back philosophy hellenistic era cover peripatetic stoics school extend medieval tradition augustine thomas aquinas modern_era philosophy cartesian common_sense schools contemporary_philosophy action almost philosopher school either_directly indirectly involved debate today inherited debate still continue three_main doctrine determinism soft determinism fact doctrine give_rise idea today there single philosophical_problem problem free_will rather great_many philosophical_problem free_will historical frame give shall undertake evaluation