Questions About God: Augustine on Foreknowledge and Free Will

Auggie got there first, as usual.

[@jrjeju1066]

When you talk about Boethius are you going to mention his appearance in "A Confederacy of Dunces"?

[@TeacherOfPhilosophy]

Not even sure what that is.

[@jrjeju1066]

@@TeacherOfPhilosophy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confederacy_of_Dunces It is a very good book that goes into many philosophical ideas in a humorous way. Although I have seen many of your videos, I can't really tell if you would like the book or not. Anyways, I am looking forward to watching your video about Boethius.

[@TeacherOfPhilosophy]

T​hanks you! I may have heard it before and forgotten. Looks like great philosophy references! I should probably read it.

[@jrjeju1066]

@@TeacherOfPhilosophy If you have time, I would be interested in your thoughts about how it relates to free will.

[@matthewcramer6204]

Hey could you do a video on Ethics? Or just Spinoza in general. I saw that you mention Descartes and Leibniz, I think that Spinoza would be a really good Philosopher to make a video on.

[@TeacherOfPhilosophy]

Thank you for the encouragement to do some Spinoza! He's probably the biggest gap on this channel, eh? (But no promises.)

[@matthewcramer6204]

@@TeacherOfPhilosophy I think that you could make a great video on Descartes, Leibniz, and Spinoza's 3 ways of thinking about God. The Voluntarist, The Rationalist, and Spinoza's god. I subscribed and will be following, you are an amazing teacher and I would never expect Spinoza from you now.

[@hiddenharmonicssystemforwi4484]

So why would God create people that he knows are going to sin and be condemned to Hell? That is the question!

[@TeacherOfPhilosophy]

Sounds to me like a problem of evil question, not a foreknowledge question.

[@matthewcramer6204]

Answer: because god has no moral character. Sure, nature has evil events, but god doesn't have moral agents.

[@hiddenharmonicssystemforwi4484]

The Bible is full of stories where it is abundantly evident that God does NOT have foreknowledge. God regretted flooding the earth, how does that jive with divine foreknowledge???

[@TeacherOfPhilosophy]

Assuming the Hebrew there is not more subtle than the English, then _either_ God does not have foreknowledge _or_ there's something a bit non-literal or subtle about this situation. On that last option, I can imagine a situation where I know in advance that taking the kids to the beach is going to result in trouble with sand, decide it's worth it, and still feel a twinge of regret later when I have to sweep up all the sand.