Medieval Philosophy - Assignment Example

Medieval Philosophy Question Answer World famous philosopher and intellectual of Medieval times Anicius Boethius views the happening of some specific event or incident of life as the by-product of an act or performance conducted intentionally or intentionally that may produce both expected and unexpected outcomes in its wake. Boethius declares unexpected outcome of an action as chance, which circumscribes human free will in such an influential manner that it appears to be vehemently dependent of some natural causality already determined and decided by the Omniscient. In other words, it is nature that bestows blessings on humans on the one hand, as well as applies bar on human fortune on the other, and hence restricts and regulates their activities and conducts in one way or the other. Hence, metaphysical forces, including heavenly bodies and evil spirits, constrain human desires, and create hurdles on the way to getting involved into different activities out of their free will. Furthermore, since the blessings and bounties showered by God upon humans, bring joys in their life, so humans must seek His protection in order to escape misfortunes in life. However, God has also granted powers to the evil forces existing in the universe, and has allowed them hurt and harm the individuals through their trickery. These forces tempt humans to follow their desires without making adequate judgment between right and wrong. Consequently, there seem to be high probability of the humans to become prey to the evil temptations by extending their wishes and desires to a great extent. As a result, natural forces inflict the humans with deprivations that constraint their free will and limit their actions and conducts for the future days to come on the basis of the foreknowledge the Providence maintains. Question 3 (Answer): Contemporary era theologian and philosopher, Nelson Pike, has critically examined the Boethius’ doctrine regarding omniscience and free will. Since Boethius has submitted his claim that it is omniscience that constrains human free will, no human action is free and independent one in its nature and scope. However, Pike refutes the very notion by declaring it false and against the very evidence altogether. Pike is of the view that since God is all-Knowing and all-Powerful, He has foreknowledge of each and every incident that would happen in the life of every human throughout his life. Pike supports his thesis with several illustrations and examples, in order to clarify his argument regarding the powers granted to humans by the Lord for performing their domestic and professional duties and obligations. If a person, Pike argues, is determined to do something either trivial or important, God certainly maintains foreknowledge of it. However, He has allowed humans to apply their free will, out of their personal choices, in order to perform their everyday activities without any hurdle or obstacle on the way. In other words, though every incident to be taken place in the world in the life of humans is in the knowledge of God, yet He does not restrict the humans from taking part in individual and collective activities of their choice by constraining each and every human action. On the contrary, He has gifted the humans with the powers to even negate His very existence, as atheist observe, though He has complete foreknowledge of it. If God starts imposing constraints on every human action, then there would neither be any space for the atheists and infidels, nor could humans be able to make this world a region where crimes, offences, sins and law breaking occur very frequently. Thus, Pike nullifies Boethius’s doctrine that God’s omniscience limits human actions in such a powerful manner that it destroys the concept of free will altogether. However, Boethius does not claim that every human action is barred by the natural regulatory authorities. On the contrary, he submits to state that it is not necessary that the outcome of every human action is exactly according to the expectations of the performer. On the other hand, man gets involved into different domestic chores, occupational duties, recreational activities and religious obligations, output and outcome of which are quite different from one another, which proves the omniscience and powers of God. Thus, human actions are conducted voluntarily, though the results and outcomes are entirely dependent of the foreknowledge of God altogether. Boethius explains his notion with the illustration that when a man digs a piece of land, he has motif of cultivation in his mind. Somehow, he can find the treasure during the digging process, buried by some other person for him or his heirs, but could not obtain the opportunity of shifting it for his own purpose. Similarly, digging the earth can let snake or other dreadful creature out of the land that is not actually the intention of the digger. Hence, God has foreknowledge of each and everything to be happened in the world, and thus all future events serve as present happening in the eyes of God. Thus, Pike appears to be unable to explore the Boethius doctrine regarding the foreknowledge of God, and looks somewhat partial while examining the doctrine under analysis. Question 7 (Answer): While discussing the doctrine of free will, the great St. Augustine observes the very reality that God has blessed countless mercies upon man; conscience is also one among these bounties, which is actually the voice of God prevailing in the breast of every human that regulates his thoughts and activities, and alarms humans at the eve of committing sins and offences. Hence, Almighty God has bestowed the morality check system in humans for their protection from evil temptations. Moreover, He has also granted them with the power to act, react and behave out of their free will. Since God’s voice is a permanent self-watch system in humans, in the form of the call of conscience, He should never be blamed of the sins committed by them because of the free will they have been gifted with. On the contrary, man should take his mistakes and sins into account in order to evade them in future on the one hand, and to please his Lord by acting upon His noble commands on the other. The arguments, made by this renowned saint and scholar of early Christian era certainly carry weight in their scope. It is partly because of the very reality that God has not confined human activities to goodness only. Rather, He has shown them both the paths leading towards goodness and evil respectively. Actually God had created Adam and Eve as flawless by nature, and had declared Eden Garden the place of their abode. Additionally, He had warned them to stay away from the forbidden tree lest they would turn ruined. However, they could not resist themselves from the evil temptation made by Satan, their eternal enemy, and tasted the fruit of forbidden tree, and thus were driven out of Eden Garden into this mortal world. Thus, it is free will out of which the first parents of mankind committed the very first sin and met with the ultimate fate of expulsion from the Eden. The Creator has complete foreknowledge about the fate and fortune of all creatures, and the life of the human generations is like an open book for the Writer of the Fate; however, the Lord has offered humans the power to choose the path of their choice while their stay in worldly life. God had granted the free will even to Satan, Beelzebub and other rebels, which they misused out of sheer jealousy for Adam, and hence lost their dignified and blessed abode eventually. It is therefore Augustine declares the committing of the original sin as the by-product of free will. Thus, it is quite preposterous to claim that the Omniscient has not gifted man with the free will. Since man has been granted intellect to make distinction between right and wrong on the one hand, as well as the sonorous voice of conscience as continuous warning alarm on deviating from the right path, so no one maintains the right to blame Almighty God for all the sins and wrong-doings men commit in one way or the other. Thus, St. Augustine is absolutely justified in his claim that God is not to be blamed for sins the humans commit out of the enticement made by the evil that tempts man break the noble commands decreed by the Creator, the Omniscient. Works Cited Augustine, St. “Free Will, Book III, iv.9-17; vi.18” Boethius, Anicius. “Consolatio Philosophi” Part V Section III 524 140-168 Translated by Walsh, P. G. Oxford World's Classics 2001 1-12 Pike, Nelson. “Divine Omniscience and Voluntary Action” The Philosophical Review, Vol. 74, No. 1 (Jan., 1965), 27-46 Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp 02.02 2011 Read More