Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3: In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four PeriodsPlotinus
Philosophy
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3: In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four Periods
Plotinus
Plotinus
1. Do the divinities themselves possess free will, or is this limited
to human beings, because of their many weaknesses and uncertainties?
(For we assume that) the divinities possess omnipotence, so that it
would seem likely that their actions were free and absolutely without
petty restrictions. Or must we hold that the (supreme) One alone
possesses omnipotence, and unhampered free will, while in other beings
(free will and opportunity) either ignore each other, or conflict? We
shall therefore have to determine the nature of free will in first
rank beings (the divinities) and also the supreme Principle (the One),
although we acknowledge that both of them are omnipotent. Besides, in
respect to this omnipotence, we shall have to distinguish possibility
from actualization, present or future.
FREE WILL MUST BE FOR MEN, IF IT IS TO BE FOR THE DIVINITIES.
Before attacking these questions, we must, as is usual, begin by
examining whether we ourselves possess freedom of will.[166] First
then, in what sense do we possess free will (or, responsibility, "that
something depends on us"); or rather, what conception we should form
of it? To answer this question will be the only means of arriving at
a conclusion about whether or not freedom of will should be ascribed
to the divinities, let alone (the supreme) Divinity. Besides, while
attributing to them freedom of will, we shall have to inquire to what
it applies, either in the other beings, or in the Beings of the first
rank.
RESPONSIBILITY DEPENDS ON VOLUNTARINESS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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