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Boethius (480-524 AD)
 Fluent in both Latin and Greek
 Familiar with works of both Plato &
Aristotle
 Translated Aristotle’s logical works into
Latin
 Thereby transmits Aristotle’s logical
works to early medieval western Europe
 Aristotle’s other works remain unknown
in western Europe until 1100+
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Appointed to the office of Consul by
the Roman Emperor Theodoric
 Christian, opposed to Arian heresy,
which denied the full divinity of
Christ and which was espoused by
Theodoric
 Accused of treason, imprisoned &
executed
 While imprisoned composed The
Consolation of Philosophy, which
includes an analysis of the problem
of freedom and determinism
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Is Human Freedom Compatible with God’s
omniscience?
If God already knows with complete
certainty whatever you will ever do, how
could your future be up to you to
determine?
How could you be genuinely free in
planning your life and enacting your plans if
God already knows what you will plan and
what you will do?
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God foreknows everything that will happen
So, God foreknows my future in full detail
What God foreknows must happen exactly
as it does happen
Hence, my future must happen exactly as it
does
If my future must happen exactly as it does,
then my future is necessary
Thus, my future is necessary
If my future is necessary, then I am not free
Consequently, I am not free!
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According to Boethius
 The preliminary argument conceals a mistake pertaining to how the
concept of necessity appears in the argument
 It is true that if my future is necessary, then I am not free
 But the argument fails to prove that my future is necessary
 In general: knowledge of X does not imply the necessity of X
 So, God’s knowledge of my future does not imply the necessity of
my future
 Augustine was entirely incorrect in supposing that God’s
omniscience implies the necessity of what God knows
 Hence, the Augustinian argument that begins with the assumption of
God’s omniscience fails to prove that all my actions are necessary and,
so, fails to prove that I am not free
Hence, Boethius is a compatibilist in the sense that he maintains that God’s
omniscience is compatible with human freedom
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