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Free Will in Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta: Rāmānuja, Sudarśana Sūri and Veṅkaṭanātha
Author(s) -
Freschi Elisa
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
religion compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.113
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1749-8171
DOI - 10.1111/rec3.12163
Subject(s) - omnipotence , free will , precinct , autonomy , psychology , christianity , action (physics) , theology , face (sociological concept) , philosophy , history , law , archaeology , political science , physics , linguistics , quantum mechanics
Free will may not be a universal problem, but it is also not only confined to Christianity, as shown in the case of Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta. The authors of this school of Indian philosophy, founded in the 11th c. and still influential up until today, had to face the challenge of accounting for human autonomy and God's omnipotence. Their solution was to create a precinct for free will in human minds, whereas all actions depend on God. Thus, God does not interfere with the initial determination of human free will and it later supports human intentions, thus permitting that they are turned into action.