N05663:265
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
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.
1. Mr. Chubb abundantly speaks of Motives as Excitements of the Acts of the Will; and says, that Motives do excite Volition, and induce it, and that they are necessary to this End; that in the Reason and Nature of Things, Volition cannot take Place without Motives to excite it. But now if Motives excite the Will, they move it; and yet he says, 'tis absurd to say, the Will is moved by Motives. And again (if Language is of any Significancy at all) If Motives excite Volition, then they are the Cause of it's being excited; and to cause Volition to be excited, is to cause it to be put forth or exerted. Yea, Mr. Chubb says himself, P. 317. Motive is necessary to the Exertion of the active Faculty. To exc•te, •s positively to do something; and certainly that which does something, is the Cause of the Thing done by it. To create, is to cause to be created; to make, is to cause to be made; to kill, is to cause to be killed; to quicken, is to cause to be quickened; and to excite, is to cause to be excited. To excite, is to be a Cause, in the most proper Sense, not merely a negative Occasion, but a Ground of Existence by positive Influence. The Notion of exciting, is exerting Influence to cause the Effect to arise or come forth into Existence.
1. Mr. Chubb abundantly speaks of Motives as Excitements of the Acts of the Will; and says, that Motives do excite Volition, and induce it, and that they are necessary to this End; that in the Reason and Nature of Things, Volition cannot take Place without Motives to excite it. But now if Motives excite the Will, they move it; and yet he says, 'tis absurd to say, the Will is moved by Motives. And again (if Language is of any Significancy at all) If Motives excite Volition, then they are the Cause of it's being excited; and to cause Volition to be excited, is to cause it to be put forth or exerted. Yea, Mr. Chubb says himself, P. 317. Motive is necessary to the Exertion of the active Faculty. To exc•te, •s positively to do something; and certainly that which does something, is the Cause of the Thing done by it. To create, is to cause to be created; to make, is to cause to be made; to kill, is to cause to be killed; to quicken, is to cause to be quickened; and to excite, is to cause to be excited. To excite, is to be a Cause, in the most proper Sense, not meerly a negative Occasion, but a Ground of Existence by positive Influence. The Notion of exciting, is exerting Influence to cause the Effect to arise or come forth into Existence.