All You Need To Know About Determinism and Freewill in Stoicism (Episode 93)

"Nothing has happened which was not going to be, and likewise nothing is going to be of which nature does not contain causes working to bring that very thing about."

The Stoics believed that we were responsible for our actions and that every action was fated.

In this conversation, Michael explains how they made sense of those two ideas.

We cover determinism, freewill, and moral responsibility in Stoicism.

(00:54) Introduction

(04:41) The Lazy Argument

(07:03) Stoic Physics

(15:56) The Argument for Causal Determinism

(25:10) Moral Responsibility

(35:33) Free Will

(44:29) Objections

***

Subscribe to The Stoa Letter for weekly meditations, actions, and links to the best Stoic resources: www.stoaletter.com/subscribe

Download the Stoa app (it’s a free download): stoameditation.com/pod

If you try the Stoa app and find it useful, but truly cannot afford it, email us and we'll set you up with a free account.

Listen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/

Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/