On Liberty and Necessity: Treatise Of Liberty and Necessity by Thomas Hobbes against the Discourse Of Liberty and Necessity by John Bramhall

Abstract

The article is a presentation of two classical positions on freedom and free will in regard to necessity. Ontological justification for free will in the face of determining human activities is, to this day, a subject of numerous debates and polemics. It was no different in the 17th century, an example of which can be the mechanistic materialism of Thomas Hobbes and the position of bishop John Bramhall, who represents scholastic thought, defending the traditional understanding of free will. The positions of both thinkers is part of the still lasting dispute between compatibilism (Hobbes) and metaphysical libertarianism (Bramhall). Although the dispute concerns a difference in understanding of terms, such as freedom, necessity, spontaneity or coercion, the discussion of both thinkers at times transcends its ontological roots towards ethical and political contexts. The title texts on freedom and necessity were written to present the positions that emerged during Hobbes’ meeting with Bramhall in Paris in 1645. Subsequent texts on freedom and necessity (issued only in the years 1655-1658) were created to supplement previously outlined positions and repel further remarks and allegations, thus extending the philosophical and theological debate. Therefore, it is valuable to show the dispute at the stage of the first polemical texts. In the case of this article, this is a written answer of Hobbes to Bramhall’s position which is also included in writing.