8. Foreknowledge and freedom (Boethius and Gersonides)

Most people take it for granted that some future events are contingent, but ‘Foreknowledge and freedom (Boethius and Gersonides)’ considers the ‘problem of prescience’, which arises when an omniscient God is added to the picture. After more than 2,000 years of discussion, this problem of prescience still exercises philosophers of religion. The Aristotelian way of conceiving contingency and necessity, and about compatibilism and incompatibilism, is discussed before considering the views of Boethius, Abelard, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Avicenna, Averroes, and Maimonides. It concludes with Gersonides’ solution to the problem. Perhaps Gersonides’ bold idea that humans exercise their God-given freedom outside divine providence, and even divine awareness, needs no explaining away.