N05663:122
A careful and strict enquiry into the modern prevailing notions of that freedom of…
A careful and strict enquiry into the modern prevailing notions of that freedom of will, which is supposed to be essential to moral agency, virtue and vice, reward and punishment, praise and blame. By Jonathan Edwards, A.M. Pastor of the church in Stockbridge. ; [One line from Romans]A careful and strict enquiry into the modern prevailing notions of that freedom of will, which is supposed to be essential to moral agency, vertue and vice, reward and punishment, praise and blame. By Jonathan Edwards, A.M. Pastor of the church in Stockbridge. ; [One line from Romans]
printed by S. Kneeland, 1754
Part 2 › Section 2: Several supposed Ways of evading the foregoing Reasoning, considered.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
First, If the Faculty or Power of the Will determines an Act of Volition, or the Soul in the Use or Exercise of that Power, determines it, that is the same Thing as for the Soul to determine Volition by an Act of Will. For an Exercise of the Power of Will, and an Act of that Power, are the same Thing. Therefore to say, that the Power of Will, or the Soul in the Use or Exercise of that Power, determines Volition, without an Act of Will preceding the Volition determined▪ is a Contradiction.
First, If the Faculty or Power of the Will determines an Act of Volition, or the Soul in the Use or Exercise of that Power, determines it, that is the same Thing as for the Soul to determine Volition by an Act of Will. For an Exercise of the Power of Will, and an Act of that Power, are the same Thing. Therefore to say, that the Power of Will, or the Soul in the Use or Exercise of that Power, determines Volition, without an Act of Will preceeding the Volition determined▪ is a Contradiction.
Secondly, If a Power of Will determines the Act of the Will, then a Power of Choosing determines it. For, as was before observed, in every Act of Will, there is Choice, and a Power o• Willing is a Power of Choosing. But if a Power of Choosing determines the Act of Volition, it determines it by choosing it. For 'tis most absurd to say, that a Power of Choosing determines one Thing rather than another, without choosing any Thing. But if a Power of Choosing determines Volition by choosing it, then here is the Act of Volition determined by an antecedent Choice, choosing that Volition.
Secondly, If a Power of Will determines the Act of the Will, then a Power of Chusing determines it. For, as was before observed, in every Act of Will, there is Choice, and a Power o• Willing is a Power of Chusing. But if a Power of Chusing determines the Act of Volition, it determines it by chusing it. For 'tis most absurd to say, that a Power of Chusing determines one Thing rather than another, without chusing any Thing. But if a Power of Chusing determines Volition by chusing it, then here is the Act of Volition determined by an antecedent Choice, chusing that Volition.