Nesta dissertação, buscamos lançar luz sobre a contradição, declarada por Schopenhauer como sendo aparente, entre a necessidade que rege a conduta humana por meio dos motivos e do caráter, e a liberdade no fenômeno, implicada na possibilidade de negação da Vontade por indivíduos singulares. Percorremos algumas obras de Schopenhauer, investigando as condições que desvendam essa contradição aparente. Assim, examinamos, por um lado, a recusa ao livre-arbítrio, e por outro, o modo como Schopenhauer explica como o indivíduo pode, através do conhecimento, subtrair-se à lei da motivação e, pela supressão da sua vontade individual, restabelecer o livre-arbítrio. / In this dissertation, we seek to shed light on the contradiction stated by Schopenhauer as apparent between the need that rules the human conduct through the motives and character, and freedom in the phenomenon, implied the possibility of denial of the will in single individuals. We have gone through some of the Schopenhauers work, investigating the conditions that reveal this apparent contradiction. Thus, we examine on the one hand, the denial of free will, and on the other hand, the way Schopenhauer explains how individuals can, through knowledge, escape the law of motivation and, through the suppression of their choice, restore free will.

O presente estudo tem por objetivo analisar as implicações, na estrutura de imputação penal, das recentes pesquisas em neurociência voltadas a investigar os processos de formação da vontade no cérebro humano. Considerando-se que, dos resultados de experimentos acerca do funcionamento do sistema nervoso central, alguns pesquisadores têm interpretado que as condutas humanas são desencadeadas a partir de processos determinísticos, e não originadas da vontade livre do indivíduo, busca-se verificar de que maneira tais conclusões impactam a responsabilidade penal, notadamente no que diz respeito à culpabilidade, uma vez que sua concepção tradicional e consolidada está fundamentada fortemente na ideia de livre-arbítrio. Com esse escopo, valendo-se do método teórico-bibliográfico, o trabalho se desenvolve em três grandes etapas. Assim, primeiramente, visa-se compreender a relação entre culpabilidade e livre-arbítrio, inicialmente expondo-se de que maneira o primeiro conceito arrogou o segundo como pressuposto no decorrer de seu desenvolvimento epistemológico, para tornar possível, depois de realizada uma análise das razões da consolidação - e da posterior crise - de sua concepção normativa no pensamento penal, examinar quais são (e se são firmes e coerentes) as alternativas teóricas a esse conceito apresentadas pela doutrina contemporânea. Em seguida, volta-se ao estudo da relação entre livre-arbítrio e neurociências. Nessa etapa, investiga-se a natureza dos argumentos utilizados pelos penalistas tanto para sustentar, quanto para refutar a ancoragem da responsabilização penal no livre-arbítrio, examinando-se, ainda, eventuais fragilidades e inconsistências, além dos possíveis aportes que as pesquisas em neurociência podem lhes proporcionar. Tudo isso, com o intuito de se verificar se o advento da neurociência representa uma mudança de paradigma na polêmica em torno da liberdade de vontade. Na fase final do trabalho, o estudo é orientado a traçar um esboço do futuro da responsabilização penal em face dos aportes da neurociência, analisando-se se representam (ou não) o fim da culpabilidade na estrutura de imputação e, além disso, qual o modelo de punição mais adequado tendo-se como parâmetro as finalidades da pena aos postulados neurocientíficos. / The goal of this study is to analyze the implications on criminal liability of the recent researches in the field of neuroscience that relates to will-formation in human brains. Taking into account that some researchers have interpreted, based on experiments about the functioning of the central nervous system, that human behavior become from deterministic processes, instead of the free will of the person, we aim to verify in what ways those conclusions affects the criminal liability. The focus of the review is on criminal culpability, whose traditional concept is based on the idea of free will. With three major portions, the thesis is developed by the bibliographic method. At first, the target is to understand the relationship between criminal culpability and free will and how that one is grounded on this one. Then, after the analysis of the reasons of the consolidation, and subsequent crisis, of the normative concept of culpability among the criminal authors, the purpose is to assay the theoretic alternatives to this notion that are provide by the contemporary doctrine. After that, the work follows with the study of the relationship between free will and neuroscience. At this stage, we investigate the nature of the arguments used by criminalists both to support and to refute the anchor of the criminal liability in free will. We also examine possible weaknesses and inconsistencies, as well as likely contributions that research in neuroscience can provide them. All this in order to verify if the advent of neuroscience represents a paradigm shift in the controversy surrounding free will. In the final phase of the work, there is the attempt to draw a sketch of the future of criminal responsibility in light of the contributions of neuroscience. Thus, we analyze whether these represent (or not) the end of culpability in the structure of criminal liability and what is the most appropriate punishment model to neuroscientific postulates, taking as parameter the purposes of the penalty.

NA cidade de Deus, Agostinho apresenta ambivalente concepção de política, pois a política adquire ou positividade ou negatividade conforme a identidade ou a contradição de uma civitas ou res publica consigo mesma. Mais precisamente, a cidade celeste, que guarda dois modos de existência, um na história, outro na eternidade, conquista progressivamente identidade na medida em que na história há processo coerente dela em direção a seu modo de existência por excelência, na eternidade; já a cidade terrena existe na história em contradição e conflito, ao tornar-se escrava da própria libido de dominação, de maneira que sua história é de progressiva danação e perda de ser. Uma cidade guarda, pois, estatuto político a despeito de sua orientação ou de sua desorientação moral. Além do mais, o fundamento da política agostiniana não é nem a natureza, nem a razão. Assim, em declarada ruptura com a reflexão política ciceroniana, Agostinho empreende uma desnaturalização da política e fundamenta-a em certo conceito de vontade. Nosso propósito será investigar os traços do voluntarismo político agostiniano por meio da gênese, aqui denominada exórdio, do modo de existência histórico de ambas as cidades. / In the City of God, Augustine shows an ambivalent conception of politics, because the politics acquires positivity or negativity according to the identity or contradiction of a civitas or res publica with itself. More precisely, the celestial city, which has two modes of existence, one in the history, other in the eternity, progressively conquers identity as in history succeeds a coherent process towards its genuine mode of existence, in eternity. On the other hand, the earthly city exists in the history in contradiction and conflict in becoming slave of its own libidinousness of dominance so that its history is one of a progressive damnation and lost of being. Therefore a city holds political statute in despite of its moral orientation or disorientation. Moreover, the Augustinian foundation of politics is neither the nature nor the reason. Thus, notably against Cicero, Augustine enterprises a denaturalization of politics and founds it in a certain concept of will. Our purpose will be to inquire into the features of the Augustinian political voluntarism by means of the historical mode of existence genesis, or beginning, of both cities.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the weight of love in Augustine’s early works (AD 386-95). By the weight of love, this thesis refers to the location and direction of the soul qua lover. According to Augustine, every soul has a journey to attend to, and every journey comes replete with obstacles on the way. To negotiate these obstacles involves attending to the weight of love, taking care to place the soul in relation to the truth. To achieve this, Augustine embarks on three pivotal early works to develop an itinerary for spiritual awakening. In De Academicis (AD 386), he forges a path “from Cicero to Christ” in order to deliver the soul from scepticism, and to present it to the true philosophy. In De vera religione (AD 390-1), he paves a way “from aversion to transcendence” in order to overcome Manichean pride, and to embrace the humility of Christ. Finally in De libero arbitrio (AD 388-95), he charts a course “from faith to understanding” whereby the soul overcomes temptation to blame God for sin, and gains awareness of its location as a sinner in Adam. By examining each itinerary in chronological order, this thesis establishes the place of love as a driving mechanism in the early works, and thereby reveals a profound continuity in Augustine’s early approach to the soul as lover.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This research project makes a contribution to the discourse on the theodicy problem by examining the position adopted by Gregory Boyd known as open theism. Boyd would argue that an open view of God is in a better position to deal with the problem of evil because the traditional understanding of God’s attributes fails to vindicate God of guilt or responsibility for evil and should, therefore, be abandoned in favour of the attractive openness model. Boyd claims that God cannot be held responsible for evil and suffering because the future cannot be known to God. He articulates this perspective from the process thought position that the future is not a reality therefore, cannot be known. Thus, God took a risk when he/she created human being with free will because any free will future actions and thoughts cannot be known by God. God is therefore surprised by the actions and sufferings of human being and therefore has to change his/her plans to meet with the free will actions of human beings. Boyd in articulating his open theism theodicy does so by reconstructing the classical understanding of the attributes of God namely: God’s omniscience, immutability, and omnipotence to give an answer to the theodicy problem. Evangelicals understand the attributes of God to be part of God nature, therefore any changes in the attributes of God means changes to God him/herself. Because of Boyd’s claim to be an evangelical, this project examines the attributes of God as reflected in the works of the early church father to the reformers and influential evangelical scholars in contrast with the work of Boyd. In presenting an evangelical understanding on God and suffering this study concludes that the position adopted by Boyd is a radical departure from evangelicalism and orthodoxy faith and is more consonant of a deistic presentation of God in his/her relation to the world.

Schopenhauer utiliza a ideia de redenção no sentido religioso para tratar a supressão do caráter que define a negação da vontade. Ele afirma que essa supressão é justamente aquilo que, na Igreja cristã, é muito apropriadamente denominada renascimento e o conhecer, do qual provém, efeito da graça. Tal comparação parece surpreendente quando consideramos que Schopenhauer se declara um filósofo ateu e que, para ele, a fé e o saber são coisas fundamentalmente diferentes e que devem ser mantidas separadas. Mas há na ideia de graça uma característica que pode justificar o recurso que Schopenhauer faz a ela: a ausência de uma causa que possa explicar a sua manifestação. Assim, tanto no sentido religioso quanto no modo como Schopenhauer concebe a negação da vontade, a redenção como efeito da graça pode ser entendida como uma benção concedida gratuitamente, pois não é possível conquistá-la voluntariamente através do esforço pessoal. Entretanto, se não há uma causa que determine a negação, há dois caminhos que podem direcionar a vontade até o ponto em que a negação pode ocorrer espontaneamente. O que há em comum entre esses dois caminhos é a presença do sofrimento como pré-requisito para que eles possam ser atravessados. O sofrimento é essencial para que se possa compreender a negação porque ele é o elemento que permite combater a tese segundo a qual haveria uma relação entre a virtude e a felicidade, de forma que o inocente seria poupado da dor e, portanto, ele poderia ser feliz. Por ser contrário a essa tese, Schopenhauer considera que, quanto mais o homem padece, mais ele se aproxima da verdadeira finalidade da vida, que consiste em compreender que viver é necessariamente sofrer. Para a explicação da analogia entre os conceitos da filosofia de Schopenhauer e os dogmas cristãos, o texto foi dividido em dois capítulos. No primeiro apresentamos as razões que podem justificar a relação que Schopenhauer estabelece entre a sua filosofia e o cristianismo, através da qual ele compara os dogmas do pecado original e do efeito da graça aos conceitos de afirmação e negação da vontade. Porém, apesar de propor essa comparação e afirmar que sua filosofia é a verdadeira expressão da religião cristã, Schopenhauer defende também uma separação estrita entre religião e filosofia, pois ele recusa uma mistura que possa resultar em uma filosofia religiosa. Para respeitar a separação que Schopenhauer prescreve entre esses dois tipos de saber, o segundo capítulo terá como objetivo compreender a transição da afirmação para a negação da vontade independentemente da relação que estes conceitos possam ter com as alegorias religiosas. / In order to deal with the suppression of character which defines the denial of will Schopenhauer applies the idea of redemption in a religious sense. He declares that this suppression corresponds precisely to what the Christian Church properly calls rebirth and the knowledge, which the effect of Grace results from. Such a comparison seems to be a surprising one when we consider Schopenhauer proclaiming himself an atheist as well as declaring faith and knowledge as fundamentally diferent concepts that should be kept separate. There is, though, in the idea of grace a distiction that can justify Schopenhauers resource on using it: the lack of a cause which can explain its occurence. Thus, both in a religious way and in the manner Schopenhauer conceives the denial of will, redemption can be understood as a blessing freely granted, because it is not possible to conquer it by personal effort. However, if there is not a determined cause for the denial, there are two ways that can guide the will to the point in which it can spontaneously occur. In both ways there is the presence of suffering and it is a prerequisite for their crossing. Suffering is essential for understanding the denial of will because it is the element that permits to confront the thesis according to which there would be a relation between virtue and happiness, so that the innocent person would be free from pain and then would be happy. In opposition to this thesis Schopenhauer considers that the more a human being suffers the closer he gets to the real meaning of life that consists in the comprehension that to live is necessarily to suffer. For the explanation of the analogy between the concepts of Schopenhauers philosophy and the Christian dogmas the text was divided into two chapters. In the first we demonstrate the reasons wich can justify the relation that Schopenhauer establishes between his philosophy and Christianity, through which he compares the dogmas of the original sin and the effect of grace to the concepts of assertion and denial of the will to live. Nevertheless, in spite of establishing this comparison and declaring his philosophy as the expression of the Christian religion, Schopenhauer also proclaims a strict dissociation of religion and philosophy, for he refuses the combination that can result in a religious philosophy. In respect to the dissociation that Schopenhauer prescribes between these two kinds of knowledge the second chapter will focus on the purpose of understanding the transition from the assertion to the denial of will independently of the relation these concepts can have to the religious allegories.

In this dissertation, I develop an interpretation of Leibniz on modality and free will. I do so for two reasons: first, I am attempting to revitalize the notion that Leibniz is the predecessor of contemporary modal semantics; second, I am using Leibniz's philosophical system to motivate responses to contemporary philosophical issues in modality and free will. In Chapter One, I argue that Leibniz's basic principles are plausible theoretical tools that ought to be used by contemporary philosophers in developing their philosophical systems. In Chapter Two, I develop Leibniz's views on the nature of individuals. I argue that possible individuals are actually of the same sort as individuals in the actual world--possible individuals and actual individuals are complete creatures that do not differ ontologically from each other. In Chapter Three, I argue that Leibniz's views on possible individuals make him a modal realist and compare his view with contemporary modal realism in order to support this claim. I also argue that counterparts avoid many of the problems set for them by contemporary thinkers; I end with the ways that Leibniz's view differs from contemporary accounts. In Chapter Four, I argue that Leibniz provides two different analyses of modality. The first is an infinite analysis account; the second is a possible worlds account. I argue that these two accounts are compatible and amount to two different descriptions of the same theory of modality. I address objections to each account in order to show this. In Chapter Five, I argue that Leibniz is a compatibilist about free will. Importantly, I argue that it is precisely Leibniz's account of modality that allows for this compatibilism, as against a necessitarian like Spinoza. I then use Leibniz's account to challenge contemporary libertarians about free will on the basis of the principle of sufficient reason. I also show how Leibniz can help semicompatibilism avoid a worry concerning necessitarianism. At the end of the day, I claim that adopting elements of Leibniz's system can help us better understand modality and the freedom of the will and can be an aid in furthering contemporary philosophical theory.

Bibliography: leaves 180-181.

<p>Can you force a child to sucess, and when do the supportiv corset become a straitjacket?</p><p>In this essay you can read about several ways to get a child to feel worthy as a person and use its own will in several ways. It's viewed from several different aspects but most of all it's about children who play musical instruments and parents who wants there kids to get sucessful. I have interviewed four musicians and musicteatchers to see how they were raised and how it has affected the way they are teatching there own students today. My little inquiry shows that people have a stong will and that you can come far if you hade supportive people around you.</p>

Thesis (M.A.)--Kutztown State College. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2831. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as preliminary leaves. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-120).