I don’t think anyone before the Romans ever mentioned it, and it’s not like people back then didn’t have worked out (if false) metaphysical and ethical theories.
Actually, the ancient Egyptian concept of Maat seems to include free will in some sense, as a “responsibility to choose Good”, according to this excerpt. But yeah, it was not separate from ethics.
That’s really interesting, thanks for posting it. It’s an obscure sort of notion, but I agree it’s got some family resemblance to idea of free will. I guess I was thinking mostly of the absence of the idea of free will from Greek philosophy.
I guess I was thinking mostly of the absence of the idea of free will from Greek philosophy.
I took a course on ancient and medieval ethics as an undergraduate. We spent a lot of time on free will, talking about Stoic versus Epicurean views, and then how they show up in Cicero and in Thomas. My impression (as a non-expert) is that Aristotle doesn’t have a term that equates to “free will”, but that other Greek writers very much do.
You’re right, of course, that many of those philosophers wrote in Greek. I suppose I was thinking of them as hellenistic or latin, and thinking of Greek philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, and their contemporaries. But I was speaking imprecisely.
Actually, the ancient Egyptian concept of Maat seems to include free will in some sense, as a “responsibility to choose Good”, according to this excerpt. But yeah, it was not separate from ethics.
That’s really interesting, thanks for posting it. It’s an obscure sort of notion, but I agree it’s got some family resemblance to idea of free will. I guess I was thinking mostly of the absence of the idea of free will from Greek philosophy.
I took a course on ancient and medieval ethics as an undergraduate. We spent a lot of time on free will, talking about Stoic versus Epicurean views, and then how they show up in Cicero and in Thomas. My impression (as a non-expert) is that Aristotle doesn’t have a term that equates to “free will”, but that other Greek writers very much do.
You’re right, of course, that many of those philosophers wrote in Greek. I suppose I was thinking of them as hellenistic or latin, and thinking of Greek philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, and their contemporaries. But I was speaking imprecisely.