Title

Foreknowledge Without Determinism

Keywords

fatalism, divine foreknowledge, free will, divine attributes

Abstract

A number of philosophers and theologians have argued that if God has knowledge of future human actions then human agents cannot be free. This argument rests on the assumption that, since God is essentially omniscient, God cannot be wrong about what human agents will do. It is this assumption that I challenge in this paper. My aim is to develop an interpretation of God’s essential omniscience according to which God can be wrong even though God never is wrong. If this interpretation of essential omniscience is coherent, as I claim it is, then there is a logically consistent position according to which God is essentially omniscient, God foreknows what human agents will do, and yet it is possible for human agents to do otherwise. Thus, the argument for theological fatalism fails.

Original Publication Citation

“Foreknowledge Without Determinism,” Sophia v. 58, n. 2 (2019)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017-11-10

Publisher

Sophia

Language

English

College

Humanities

Department

Philosophy

University Standing at Time of Publication

Assistant Professor

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