The 60-Second Aquinas
Lesson
Limiting Free Will
August 17, 1998
There are, as anyone would surely bring up, incidents in which we appear to lose our free will, but that is only partially true.
Aquinas points out in the Summa Theologica that our will is divided into two parts: one is exterior (what actually happens), the other interior (what is willed).
In the exterior, there can be limits. Because we want to run the 100-meter dash in less than 10 seconds does not mean we will actually be able to do this. We have the will and the determination, but there are physical limitations. In this incident, "violence" prevents us from fulfilling the desire of our will. The desire, the interior will, was not limited or eliminated.
Let’s take a more sinister example: If someone pushes me into another person who then is propelled off of a cliff to his death, I am in some way the agent of that person’s death. However, I did not will that person’s death. Again, violence was done to my person, but the interior will was not harmed.
Explanation of The 60-Second Aquinas Lesson
