Edward’s Doctrine of Necessity by Strongest Motive Force Cannot be Proved (Part 2)

Building on my previous post on the subject,  Albert Taylor Bledsoe well documented the circular reasoning involved in Edwards’ primary assertion that the strongest motive force determines the will.  Below is an excerpt:
The great doctrine of the Inquiry seems to go round in a vicious circle, to run into an insignificant truism…In the first place, [...]

Edwards’ Doctrine of Necessity by Strongest Motive Force Cannot be Proved

Truly, this grand assumption is nothing more than circular reasoning as Ransom Dunn points out:
The affirmation, that the greatest motive invariably governs, is a mere assumption, incapable of proof. We ask, how does any one know that he is governed by the greatest motive? The answer, and the only answer possible, is, that he is [...]

Challenging Jonathan Edwards’ Compatibilistic Arguments

SEA has provided a more comprehensive list of resources that challenge/refute Edwardsian Compatibilism.
Refuting Edwards and Calvinist Compatibilism and Arguments against Genuine Free Will

Thomas Ralston on Freedom of the Will Part 9: The Doctrine of Motives

This post completes our series on Ralston’s defense of the Arminian belief in self-determinism.  This is the grand finale where Ralston tackles the favorite argument against free-will, the doctrine of motives as presented primarily by Jonathan Edwards.  This is especially relevant since Calvinists continue to argue along these same lines today and often hold up [...]