Boethius (480-524 AD) Fluent in both Latin and Greek
Familiar with works of both Plato & Aristotle
Translated Aristotle’s logical works into Latin
Thereby transmits Aristotle’s logical works to early medieval western Europe
Aristotle’s other works remain unknown in western Europe until 1100+
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Appointed to the office of Consul by the Roman Emperor Theodoric
Christian, opposed to Arian heresy, which denied the full divinity of Christ and which was espoused by Theodoric
Accused of treason, imprisoned & executed
While imprisoned composed The Consolation of Philosophy, which includes an analysis of the problem of freedom and determinism 2
Is Human Freedom Compatible with God’s omniscience?
If God already knows with complete certainty whatever you will ever do, how could your future be up to you to determine?
How could you be genuinely free in planning your life and enacting your plans if God already knows what you will plan and what you will do?
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God foreknows everything that will happen So, God foreknows my future in full detail What God foreknows must happen exactly
as it does happen Hence, my future must happen exactly as
it does If my future must happen exactly as it
does, then my future is necessary Thus, my future is necessary If my future is necessary, then I am not
free Consequently, I am not free!
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According to Boethius The preliminary argument conceals a mistake pertaining to
how the concept of necessity appears in the argument It is true that if my future is necessary, then I am not free But the argument fails to prove that my future is necessary
In general: knowledge of X does not imply the necessity of X So, God’s knowledge of my future does not imply the
necessity of my future Augustine was entirely incorrect in supposing that God’s
omniscience implies the necessity of what God knows Hence, the Augustinian argument that begins with the
assumption of God’s omniscience fails to prove that all my actions are necessary and, so, fails to prove that I am not free
Hence, Boethius is a compatibilist in the sense that he maintains that God’s omniscience is compatible with human freedom
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