Baumgarten’s Theory of Freedom

This chapter explains the key elements in the dispute between the Pietists and Wolff, and defends the thesis that as a figure situated at the boundary between these two parties, Baumgarten played a historically decisive role in the debate. To demonstrate this, Schwaiger shows in detail how, in attempting to build a middle path, Baumgarten is led to offer an original and fundamental modification of the theory of freedom. This includes reworking the Wolffian conception of a rule of willing, further developing the theory of motivational indifference, and recasting the distinctions between “spontaneity,” “choice,” and “freedom.”