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Knowledge and choice

שו”תCategory: philosophyKnowledge and choice
asked 1 year ago

peace,
Can you explain what is problematic about the position that states that a person has free choice and God knows (and does not dictate) what a person will choose.
 


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מיכי Staff answered 1 year ago
Is that all? Really a question for a line or two. 🙂 See a series of columns here on the site 299 – 303 (except 300) that dealt with this. And also in the talkbacks there. I suggest not starting a discussion before you’ve seen what went on there. It’s exhausting to the point of bloodletting.

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ברק replied 1 year ago

It is clear to me that this is a very charged issue, (I am in the middle of listening to the series on YouTube) and yet I do just want to reiterate this critical point. In column 299 you write the question as follows:
“The argument is structured in a way that is what you want (dilemma argument): Let us assume for the sake of discussion that my actions are indeed dedicated to my free choice. If I choose to take a step contrary to what God knew in advance – then it turned out that His knowledge was wrong, and this of course contradicts all His power. This is impossible. And if there is no possibility that I will do something else – then it is not true that I have free choice. In short, divine foreknowledge is incompatible with my freedom to choose. Ostensibly we have to give up one of these two beliefs.”

Now I ask – Why can't it be said that the choice is left to me and God knows in practice what I chose? I understand the sentence – “If I choose to take a step contrary to what God knew in advance” – If I claim that what God knew in advance is what I will turn out to have chosen (because God is above time, whatever that means…).

מיכי Staff replied 1 year ago

Read and then we'll talk. You jump in and ask about things that have been discussed there to the point of exhaustion.

דוד ש. replied 1 year ago

Print out the above columns and read them in the BBC. Two birds with one stone.
They are really very thorough columns. Spoiler, your question (the film argument) is the only point that I am not completely calm about... There is something elusive about this argument, but on the surface it is contradictory and look there.

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