http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/free_will Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Tue, 14 Apr 2026 21:31:27 -0400 Tue, 14 Apr 2026 21:31:27 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1354/examining-free-will-through-spinoza-and-descartes By Rocco A. Astore - According to Spinoza, for something to be entirely free it must be uncompelled in all ways and also the cause of itself.[1] Furthermore, because he believes that there is only one substance that causes itself, which is God, or Nature, and since he states it is uncompelled due to its existence being identical to its essence, it follows that due to its essence being of a self-determined nature, it by necessity exists without being dependent on any other being.[2] Also, since God is uncompelled, all things that derive from it are modes of its attributes and are not to be understood as being at the... Sun, 14 Feb 2016 03:53 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1354/examining-free-will-through-spinoza-and-descartes