Development of the Concept of Free Will in the View of Modern Philosophers
Subject Areas : Geneology of philosophical schools and Ideas
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Abstract :
The concept of free will is one of the fundamental concepts in Western metaphysical tradition. Although there are some important signs regarding the origination of this concept in Greek classical philosophy and Middle Age philosophy, it was just at the beginning of the modern period that the role of free will in the interpretation of the world was more highlighted in the thoughts of each philosopher more than those of the previous one. It seems as if the role of rational knowledge has become gradually less important in this process while the role of free will has become more significant. Inspired by Heidegger, the author has tried to strengthen his standpoint by yielding more proofs than he has offered in order to examine the development of the concept of free will. In doing so, he starts with Descartes and, by investigating the views of Espinoza, Leibniz, Rousseau, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche, aims to analyze the quality of the development of this concept, particularly the relationship between the free will and knowledge in the modern period. The purpose is to show that the significance of free will for Schopenhauer and Nietzsche is not accidental, and the preliminary contexts of such a development had been previously and gradually paved by modern philosophers. The findings of this study indicate that, unlike the previous comments and interpretations, Nietzsche’s “will to power” is not a complement to a Schopenhaurian project but, rather, a complement to German idealism.
