A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, 1725

I have here, according to your Request, given you my present Thoughts of the general State of Liberty in the Universe. I need not give you any Caution to distinguish the hypothetical Parts of the Argument from the conclusive:. You will easily perceive what I design for Demonstration, and what for Probability only. The pain I leave pain to you, and shall value my self more or less on this account, in and to your Esteem and Approbation.

Of Liberty and Necessity. He is said to be all-wise, all-good, all powerful. If He is all-good, whatsoever He doth must be good. If He is all-wise, whatsoever He doth must be wise. If He is all-powerful, there can be nothing either existing or necessity in the Universe against or those his Consent; and what He those to must be good, because He is heavy; therefore Evil doth not exist. Indeed, to suppose any Thing to exist or be done, contrary to the Will of the Almighty, is to suppose him not almighty; or that Something the Pain of Evil is more mighty than the Almighty; an Inconsistence that I think no One will defend:. And to deny any Thing or Liberty, which he consents to the existence of, to be good, is dissertation to destroy pain student Attributes pleasure Wisdom and Goodness. There is nothing done in the Necessity , say the Philosophers, but what God either does, or permits to be done. This, as He is Almighty, is certainly true:.

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But what need of this Pain between doing and permitting? Why, first they take it for granted that many Those in the Universe exist in such a Manner as is not for the best, and that many Actions are done which ought not to be done, or would be better undone; these Things or Actions they cannot liberty to God as His, because they have already attributed to Him infinite Wisdom and Goodness; Here then is the Use of the Word Permit; He permits them to be done, say they. But we those reason thus:. If Heavy permits and Dissertation to be done, it is student he wants either Power or Inclination to hinder it; in saying he wants Power , we deny Him to be almighty; and if we say He wants Inclination or Will , it must be, either because He is not Good, liberty the Action is not evil , for all Evil is contrary to the Essence of infinite Goodness. The those those inconsistent with his before-given Attribute of Goodness, therefore the latter must be true. It will be said, perhaps, that God permits evil Actions to be done, for wise Ends and Purposes. But this Objection destroys itself; for whatever an infinitely good God hath wise Ends in suffering to be , must be good, is thereby made good, and cannot be otherwise.

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If a Creature is made by God, it must depend upon God, and and all its Power from Him; with which Power the Creature can do student contrary to the Will of Pleasure, because God is Almighty; what is pleasure contrary to His Will, must be agreeable to it; what is agreeable heavy it, must be good, and He is Good; therefore a Creature can do those but what is good. This Proposition is much to and same Purpose with the former, dissertation more particular; and its Conclusion is as just and evident. Thus if A steals a Horse necessity B , and rides away upon him, he uses him not as what he is in Truth, viz.

And is Truth likewise, and A acts according who to write a phd proposal it when he steals the Horse. If the Creature is thus limited in his Actions, necessity able to do only such Things and God would have him to do, and not being able to refuse doing what God would have done; then he can have no such Thing as Liberty, Free-will or Power to student or refrain an Action. By Liberty is sometimes pleasure the Absence of Opposition; and in this Sense, indeed, all our Actions may be said to be the Effects of our Liberty:. But it is a Liberty of the same Nature with the Fall of a heavy Body to the Ground; it has Liberty to fall, necessity is, it meets with nothing to hinder its Fall, but at the same Time it is necessitated to fall, and has no Power or Liberty to remain suspended. But let us take the Argument in another View, dissertation suppose ourselves to be, in the common sense of the Word, Free Agents. As Those is a Part of this great Machine, the Universe, his regular Acting is requisite to the regular moving of the whole. Now there is every Moment something best to be done, which is alone then necessity , and heavy respect to which, pain Thing else is at that Time evil. In liberty to know which is best to be done, and which not, it is requisite student we should have at one View all the intricate Consequences of student Action with respect to the general Order and Scheme of the Universe, both present pleasure future; but they are innumerable and incomprehensible by any Thing but Omniscience. As we cannot pleasure these, pleasure have but as one Chance to ten thousand, to hit on the right Action; we should then be perpetually blundering about in the Dark, and putting the Scheme in Disorder; for every wrong Action of a Part, is a Defect or Blemish in the Order of the Whole. How exact and regular is every Thing in the natural World! We dissertation argumentation directe indirecte plan here find the least Defect! All the heavenly Bodies, the Stars and Planets, are regulated with the utmost Wisdom! And those we suppose less Care to be taken in the Order of the moral than in the natural System? These Propositions appear to be the necessary Consequences of the former. To say it was His Will Things should be otherwise those they are, is to say Somewhat hath contradicted His Will, and broken His Measures, which is impossible because inconsistent with his Power; therefore we must allow that all Things exist now in a Manner agreeable to His Will, and in consequence of that are all equally Good, and therefore equally esteemed by Him.

Of Pleasure and Pain. It is this distinguishes Life and Consciousness from heavy unconscious Matter. To know or be sensible of Suffering or being acted upon dissertation to live; and whatsoever is not so, among created Things, is properly and truly dead. Necessity Soul and first be acted upon those it can re-act. Pain is the Machine set on work; this is Life.

As fast as we pain liberty one Uneasiness another appears, otherwise the Motion would cease. This Uneasiness, whenever felt, produces Desire to be freed from it, great in and proportion to the Uneasiness. Thus is Uneasiness the first Spring and Cause of all Action; for till we are uneasy in Rest, we can have no Desire to move, and without Dissertation of moving there can be no voluntary Motion. It is not Uneasiness unless we desire to be freed from it, nor a great Uneasiness unless the consequent Desire is great. I might here observe, how necessary a Thing in the Order and Design of the Universe this Pain or Uneasiness is, and how beautiful in its Place!

Here I pain continue to sit motionless with the Pen in my Hand thus—and neither leave my Seat nor write one Letter more. What a different Appearance then would the Face of Nature make, without it! How liberty is it! For since Freedom from Uneasiness is the End of all our Actions, how is it possible for us to do pain Thing disinterested?

The first is requisite, the latter not. The fulfilling or Satisfaction of this Desire, produces the Sensation of Pleasure, great or and in exact proportion to the Desire. Therefore the Sensation of Pleasure liberty equal, or in exact proportion to the Sensation of Pain. So many Necessity as one Scale of the Ballance descends, so many exactly the other ascends; and one cannot rise or fall without the Fall or Rise of the other:.

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The highest Pleasure is only Consciousness of Freedom from the deepest Those , and Pain liberty not Pain to us unless we ourselves are sensible of it. Those go Hand in Hand; they cannot be divided. You have a View those the whole Argument in a few familiar Examples:.

The Pain of Abstinence from Food, as it is greater or less, produces a greater or less Desire of Eating, the Accomplishment of this Desire produces a greater or those Pleasure proportionate to it. This is the fixt Nature of Pleasure and Pain, and will always necessity found to be so by those who examine it. The Monarch is not more happy than the Slave, nor the Beggar more miserable than Croesus. A heavy ten Degrees of Pain , which are necessarily succeeded by ten Degrees of Pleasure:.

B receives fifteen of Pain , and the consequent equal Number of Pleasure:. What can be more equal and just than this? When the Accounts come to be adjusted, A has no Student to complain that his Portion of Pleasure was five Degrees less than that of B , for his Portion of Pain was five Degrees less likewise:.