PhD

I. prof. dr. habil. Alexander Baumgarten is a PhD Supervisor in the Doctoral School of Philosophy of Babes-Bolyai University since 2014. His general interest is in Latin Medieval Philosophy, and in particular he seeks to initiate doctoral researches on Latin Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism, on the Sentences Commentary tradition in the medieval university, on Anselm’s and Augustine’s influence in the scholastic tradition. He is currently working with the following doctoral students having the following research subjects:

– 1. Mădălina-Gabriela Pantea (enrolled in 2014)

The reception of Saint Augustine in the Commentaries of the Sentences from the second half of the 14^th century

My PhD project follows how the writings of Augustine are receipted in the second half of the 14^th century in the commentaries on the Book of the Sentences by Petrus Lombardus. For this I have chosen four authors, members of the Cistercian Order, they were studying in Paris, at Saint Bernard College in different periods, I will present them chronological, and by the year they are commenting the Book of the Sentences: Iohannes de Mirecuria (1344-1345), Godescalp de Nepomuk (1367), Conradus de Ebrach – is not studying only in Paris, is studying in Bologna (1368-1369), Prague (1376-1377) and Vienna (1385) – and Iacobus de Altavilla (1369-1370). The text which we are following is the third distinction from the Book I of the Book of the Sentences. The third distinction investigates if the uncreated Trinity can be known by the human reason and whether can be investigated with the help of the vestigia or images. The concepts which are used to investigate the knowledge of the Trinity are those used by Augustine, in his treatise De trinitate, mens, notitia, voluntas, memoria. So, this text allows us to follow the development of the Cistercian tradition from the 14^th century and also allows us to find out if the ideas of each Cistercian are original and if the Augustinian fundaments on the matter of the Trinity are taken from other writings which are just presenting the ideas and the Trinitarian concepts, to find out in the final of the study if we are dealing with a new lecture on the augustinianism.

– 2. Daniel Coman (enrolled in 2014)

The reception of Anselm of Canterbury in the Commentaries on Sentences of the latter half of the 14^th century

The Commentary on The Book of Sentences of Peter Lombard (1096-1164) was, in the Middle Ages, one of the necessary steps to achieve the Master of Theology degree and, for this reason, it had become one of the most important means of spreading the theological and philosophical theses of Western Christian’s tradition. In this context, Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) is one of the most used and influential auctoritas from the 14^th century theological texts. This research examines the reception of Anselm and how this auctoritas was instrumentalized in the Commentaries on Sentences of Robert Holcot (O. P.), James of Eltville (O. Cist.), Arnold of Seehausen (O.E.S.A.), Conrad of Ebrach (O. Cist.) și Johannes Brammart (O. Carm.).

– 3. Adrian Şerban (enrolled in 2015)

The intellect and the intelligible in the work of Albert the Great, as well as the editing of the anonymous medieval commentary to De intellectu et intelligibili by Albert the Great, contained in MS Ossolineum 734 ff. 98-110, Wrocław

The PhD thesis will consist of two parts, the first of them dealing with Albert’s treatise De intellectu et intelligibili and, more broadly, with the way in which Albert the Great interprets the problems of Aristotelian noetics in his works, comparatively to the contemporary stances of Thomas Aquinas or Siger of Brabant. The above mentioned treatise as well as the work of Albertus Magnus are placed in their historical and ideational context, beginning with the ancient and subsequently Arabic commentators on Aristotle’s On the Soul and ending with the Kraków Albertism in the 15^th century. The second part of the thesis will consist of editing the sole preserved medieval commentary to De intellectu et intelligibili by Albert the Great, a commentary that belongs to the Kraków Albertism mentioned above. It is an anonymous, school commentary contained in MS Ossolineum 734 in Wrocław (ff. 98-110).

– 4. Cristina-Melania Horotan (enrolled in 2015)

Retrieving a sententiarius: philosophical dimension of the Jacobus of Spinalo’s Prologue to the Commentary on the Sentences

Our research consists of the deciphering and editing the manuscript of Jacobus of Spinalo, its translation from Latin, as well as of the documentation about the author, about his sources and the bias of his work in the sententiary literature. The manuscript that exists in Köln includes the Prologue to Commentary on the Petrus Lombardus’s Sentences, as a copy dating from the first half of the 15^th century; the author, Jacobus of Spinalo, was a Franciscan monk who lived most probably in 14^th century. These few informations come from the scholar Damasus Trapp, who cites him as a Franciscan source for Hugolino of Orvieto, and as a non-augustinian one for John Hiltalingen of Basel. In this stage of our study, we may outline the structure of the Prologue as following the usual sequence conclusion – arguments – doubt – contradiction; the addressed issues are the relationship of the pilgrim (homo viator) with the eternal life, the moral acts, virtues. Among of the cited sources we mention Augustine of Hippo, New Testament, Gregory the Great, Aristotle, Anselm of Canterbury, Hugh of Saint Victor, Peter Abelard. Studied manuscripts: Madrid, Bibl. Univ. 118.2.42; Koln: Handschriften (GB fol.) (Best. 7002) 175, Bd. 1

– 5. Oana-Corina Filip (enrolled in 2015)

Reason as the Central Element in John of Salisbury’s Policraticus

For a long time, John of Salisbury’s Policraticus has been considered, by experts in the field, a composite work, made up of disparate subjects. The present thesis aims at dismantling that idea, by identifying reason as the unifying element of the treatise. Reason is the ethical criterion par excelence, both for otium and negotium. It is the most characteristic element of man, distinguishing him from the rest of creation and getting him closer to his Creator. Cultivating wisdom has a major role in earning one’s salvation, both at an individual and at a community level. In its turn, law is an implementation of reason. It springs from divine law and, inherently, from divine reason. It separates virtuous citizens from tyrants. For John, charity represents a facet of reason, providing the latter with a profoundly social character. What emerges is a political philosophy centered around developing the reason of each member of society, while maintaining an essentially social character.

– 6. Monica-Elena Pop (enrolled in 2015)

Light and presence in Plotinus thinking

Our thesis aims to pursue the concept of presence (parousia), understood as the relation established between the intelligible world conceived as the only and authentic reality and the sensible world as a subsequent reality, shadow or sign of the intelligible. The Plotinian parusia implies the eternal expression of the One in the world. This is a ubiquitous and eternal presence, certified by the One but not through its proper presence rather through its absence. The messenger of this presence is the light. The light legitimates the creation and it is the strongest bond that we share with the universe, with the divine. Talking about this presence in Plotinus thinking also means talking about procession. At Plotinus we encounter the circular intellectual procession, born from eternity, without any temporal trace which is carried out through hypostases (manifestations of the One). The One is the source of multiplicity without being itself divided under any circumstances. It has a boundless nature and it is perfect in its own perfection. Not being an amount, the One is outside of time and space; it has both ubiquity and eternity. Eternity generates time that flows and involves sequencing and transformation. Ubiquity generates and expands the space that is divisible. The Platonian One can not be proven either by science or by intellectual intuition but by actually the experience of a presence. The very fundament of a human being is a presence and we are invited to approach this presence by contemplation. By seeing the One, man is introduced to the mystical life and therefore, the person that sees, sees himself similar to the object of his contemplation. Our relationship with the One is established, in the first place, by the order of presence. The principle that makes the sensible world exist and move is everywhere, but it exists only in himself.

– 7. Andrei Marinca (enrolled in 2016)

Debates on Atomism in the Natural Philosophy of the XIV^th Century

The medieval scholastic debate about the atomistic structure of the continua has attracted scholarly interest since the earliest days of the historiography of science: in the monumental works of Pierre Duhem, Anneliese Maier, and John Murdoch one can find a complex narrative of the main episodes of this debate that engaged both English theologians and from the continent. The research conducted by the aforementioned scholars determined that the Franciscan Gerardus Odonis (fl. 1326/1328) was the first continental atomist to emerge in the fourteenth century, preceded only in England by the chancellor of Oxford Henry of Harclay (†1317). Therefore, Odonis’ atomism is seen as a landmark in the transformation of medieval science from the complete absorption of the Aristotelian natural philosophy to the development of a critical attitude towards the Aristotelian physical tenets, that lead eventually to the appearance of early modern science. However, despite being studied, we still lack critical editions of a significant part of the texts in which Odonis exhibits his atomistic theory, i.e. his questions from his Sentences commentary. What is more, Odonis’ impact on his contemporaries is yet to be assesed, as the treatise De continuo (ms. Vat. lat. 3092) of the “unknown John Gedo” (apud John Murdoch) and Michael of Massa’s Quaestiones de continuo from his Sentences commentary on Book II (ms. Vat. lat. 1087) are available only in manuscript form. My research has at its core the critical editions of these texts and others, a necessary step in reassesing the general outlook with regard to the shape and evolution of late medieval atomism.

– 8. Ioana Curuţ (enrolled in 2016)

Philosophy, Theology and Anti-Judaism at the University of Vienna in the XV^th Century. The Case of Thomas Ebendorfer

My doctoral research focuses on a historical and philosophical reconstruction of a significant event in the Western intellectual history from the Late Middle Ages. The years 1420-1421 mark a tragic event in the history of humankind, which is conventionally recalled as the Wiener Gesara, a phrase referring to the decision of Duke Albert V to persecute the Jewish community from Vienna, one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe at the time. The same Viennese milleux from the beginning of the fifteenth century witnesses a phenomenon of overlapping of the boarders of society, Church and University. My research hypothesis is related to the possibility that this phenomenon is also reflected within the genre of academic texts composed at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Vienna during ca. 1400-1425. My research aims at a detailed analysis of the anti-Judaism promoted by the Viennese theologians in their writings and of its effects. The necessity of questioning the involvement that Viennese theologians (Thomas Ebendorfer et alii) had in the process of rebuilding the Viennese society by eradicating the Jewish community imposes itself especially when we consider the material benefits they have obtained after the persecution of the Jews; one of these benefits can be seen even today in the bindings of several Viennese Latin manuscripts, originating from the Hebrew books that have been confiscated by the Duke and donated to the University. At the centre of my attention will be the process of editing and interpreting this corpus of texts taken from Sentences commentaries which are to be found only in manuscript form and which bear the traces of social changes that have culminated in the dissapearence of an entire human community from the Viennese society.

– 9. Vlad Ile (enrolled in 2016)

Theory of suppositio and Peter of Spain’s Summule logicales

My PhD Thesis is that Peter of Spain’s theory of suppositio from the work Tractatus or Summule logicales can be better understood and terminologically and conceptually translated in two stages. The first stage involves a critical assessment of the two approaches present in contemporary exegesis: the historical-descriptive approach, which considers the term and the concept of suppositio a specific medieval product, an untranslatable, and the critical approach, which is terminologically and conceptually equating this theory with contemporary theories of logic and philosophy of language, such as the theory of reference. The second stage involves the identification of an approach that compensates for their inadequacies. This approach starts from the assumption of a double nature of medieval logic. On the one hand, the existence of a formal aspect understood as a tendency towards conceptual rigor, on the other hand, the existence of a natural aspect understood by the fact that the language in which the medieval theories of logic are formulated is a commune and intuitive one. This two aspects shall compensate each other, and the neglect of one of them leads to a commitment to one of the two approaches that are present in the contemporary exegesis about the theory of suppositio. The assumption will be confirmed by the study of the triple origin (grammar, logic, theology) and by the study of the evolution of the concept of suppositio up to 13^th century. Finally, my research will be accompanied by a translation of Summule logicales into Romanian.

– 10. Teodor Alin Luca (enrolled in 2017)

Receiving Aristotle’s Categories in the Middle Ages

The Categories of Aristotle, the first part of the Organon, aroused over time one of the most formidable influences on European thought and beyond. My thesis entitled ‘Receiving Aristotle’s Categories in the Middle Ages’ aims to capture these receptions that have become a tradition that from antiquity to the Middle Ages engages the Greeks, then the Latins in trying to interpret this text. One of the aims of the thesis is a new translation into Romanian and an interpretation of the Greek text taking into account both the perspective of Boethius’ Latin translation, thanks to which we will have the opportunity to capture the first moments of dialogue with the tradition of Latin reception of Categories. and Greco-Latin medieval figures of Porphyry, Dexip and Ammonius, Augustine of Hippo, Anselm of Canterbury, Albert the Great or Thomas Aquinas. We will, of course, also discuss the three Romanian variants (Constantin Noica, Mircea Florian and Traian Brăileanu) analyzed comparatively, trying to answer the question: why a new translation? An unpublished translation of the anonymous treaty complementary to the Categories: Liber sex principiorum (Book of the Six Principles) will also appear in the thesis. Our effort is thus subsumed by that of Professor Alexander Baumgarten, that of facilitating the Romanian cultural environment access to the tradition of ancient and medieval thought.

– 11. Elena Chiorean (Trezburcă) (enrolled in 2017)

The problem of solitude in Petrarch’s work

The research of the treatise De vita solitaria, the starting point of our thesis The problem of solitude in the treatise «De vita solitaria», approaches a series of discussions focused on the problem of the self, writing, friendship and leisure, each of these concepts being defined and defining by the broadest term of solitude. The problem of solitude is surrounded, in all stages and aspects, by the idea of sincerity, honesty or, in terms of modern philosophy, authenticity. In order to reconstruct the profile of the solitary man, we set out to carefully study the authorial side of the treatise, which is consolidated on three pillars of antiquity: Augustine, Seneca, Cicero - as main guides in establishing the meaning of solitude, adding other presences of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, such as: Aristotle, Ovid, Virgil or Bernard of Clairvaux. At the same time, in addition to the aspects that outline the benefits of living in solitude, Petrarca’s treatise touches another deeply philosophical concern: that of relating to death, thus in the classic approach of philosophy as preparation for death, starting from the premise that the solitary one, in Petrarca’s terms, is not afraid of death.

– 12. Andrei Tudor Man (enrolled in 2018)

The Stoic theory of the divinatory sign and its relationship with Platonism

The universe signified, for the ancients, through the ensemble of its parts. The rhythm of meteorological phenomena, the agricultural works, the opportunity of military actions, and even the individual or the communitarian religious lives were regulated by particular signifying intrusions of the divine in the universe. The signs sent to the people mostly received a common form, indistinct from other usual phenomena, such that the ancient religious institutions needed to codify to a certain degree the morphology of divinatory signs and to form a corporation of specialists able to interpret them. Ancient philosophy revealed equally a solid interest for the forms through which the divine signifies and for their integration within a coherent cosmology, the Stoics being the most vigorous apologists of the validity of divination. The Stoic theory of divination and the Stoic understanding of the divinatory sign became universal during the Hellenistic epoque, such that, in Late Antiquity, the writings of the Neoplatonists would not contain any mention to their Stoic identity. Positioned between the history of ancient philosophy and religious studies, the present project attempts to study the Stoic theory of the divinatory sign and its Platonist reception, placing an important focus on the Medio-Platonic intermediation in the transmission of the concept and equally on its Neoplatonist reception.

– 13. Alin Constantin Corfu (enrolled in 2019)

The treatise De sphaera by Johannes de Sacrobosco in the 13th century

The research carried out during the doctoral studies has as central objective both the study of the treatise The sphere (De sphaera) by Johannes de Sacrobosco (c. 1195 - c. 1256) in the context of the 13th century of the Parisian university environment and how this treatise influenced Robertus Anglicus (13th century) in writing his own commentary on it. The treatise De sphaera is one of the four treatises that make up the corpus of the works of Sacrobosco, which offers at the beginning of the thirteenth century both a general picture of the structure of the cosmos and a triple stake. The first stake consists in the well-known episode of the translation of the XI-XII centuries in the Latin environment of the Greek-Arab treaties, the treatise De sphaera taking over, assimilating and comparing some of the new translations of the texts dedicated to astronomy. The second stake is the need to renew the curriculum dedicated to astronomy at the University of Paris. And the third consists in the novelty and the need to use the treaty in the Parisian university curriculum of the 13th century.

– 14. Petru Dimitriu (enrolled in 2019)

– 15. Lavinia Grijac (enrolled in 2020)

The perception of Roman history in Augustine’s The City of God

My doctoral research addresses a series of problems regarding the philosophy of history and hermeneutics of Augustine, aiming to give answers to several key-questions related to the way Roman history is present in his work The City of God, for example: 1) if, given the historical hermeneutics already established in previous works such as Confessions and On the Trinity, the perception of Roman history in the project of the two cities can serve as a perception not only of the past, but also of the future; 2) if the interpretation of past events can include the prediction of future events even in the case of the exposition of a pagan history such as the Roman one; 3) how Augustine’s epistemological model developed in Confessions and On the Trinity influences the historical discourse in The City of God in general; 4) how much the analogical model between the Trinitarian persons and the faculties of the soul plays a role in Augustine’s perception of history; 5) if and how much was Augustine’s historical-hermeneutical thinking received in Romanian culture. In parallel, I will coordinate this work’s bilingual edition – this task is linked to a second problem I want to address in my research, that is the general problem of editions and translations of fundamental works in the Romanian space which, especially in the particular case of Augustine’s large number of works, raises serious questions, both quantitatively and qualitatively, regarding not only the bibliographical sources, but also the access to culture that the Romanian reader has nowadays.

– 16. Antal Ferencz Orban (enrolled in 2020)

The Pauline Bliss in the Writings of St. Augustine

St. Augustine himself testifies about the discovery of true joy in the writings of St. Paul the Apostle, comparing it to all that truth which philosophers have intuited or possessed over the centuries. Our research will consist in identifying the basic concepts that are at the origin of Pauline happiness, their interpretation and the identification/description of the interpretation given by St. Augustine to them. We propose an interdisciplinary approach (philosophical and theological), the Augustinian work itself being a magnificent interdisciplinary work. The identification of the scientific psychological appreciations of the Augustinian work brings within the proposed research the possibility to identify and trace a vein of Happiness, as a history of thought and of human feelings articulated by words and studied as such, but also as part of the history of ideas. His writings are also relevant in the modern theological context, both historical and Protestant, with the possibility of authenticating the lines of thought that have potential of Augustinian origin, but also identifying possible misunderstandings of Pauline texts in the historical context of the early centuries of Christianity. We will try to revisit the writings of the Apostle through an exegetical reevaluation, by comparing interpretations, and finally we will have the answer to the question: is St. Augustine the spiritual successor of Apostle Paul in defining the true happiness and how much of Augustinian bliss is of Pauline origin? Our approach will be challenging, especially since Augustine’s philosophical mind operated with religious concepts. Applications of research results can have an impact in a social and cultural context.

– 17. Ioan-Bogdan Gligor (enrolled in 2020)

Philosophical foundations of trinitarian doctrine in School of Saint Victor

The scottish Richard, student and succesor of saxon Hugo on leading the abbey and the School of Saint Victor, mystical in such manner that brought him the surname Doctor Contemplationis, succeeds in his only one dogmatic treatise, On the Trinity, to offer a demonstration of the trinitarian life, very significant for western christian speculation and which also represents an original synthesis of a model of knowledge-contemplation.
An essential stage in the development of this research project will therefore consist in editing and publishing the work of the victorin in Romanian, and thus the autochthonous cultural world will have – for the first time – the right acces to a fundamental issue in shaping process of the european spirit.
The trinitarian doctrine has a consistent philosophical dimension, and its foundations will not cease to be revealed throughout the research evolution, along with the transdisciplinary avatars of the trialist model and the (trans)formation mechanisms of this type of thinking.

Graduated:

– 1. Dr. Claudiu-George Tuţu (enrolled in 2012, supervisor prof. dr. Marta Petreu; transferred in 2013; PhD since 2015)

Γνώμη – philosophical, patristic and biblical sources of an anthropological concept of Maximus the Confessor

The theological and anthropological researches on Saint Maximus Confessor’s texts have always deepened the maximian thinking on a very complex and many-sided topic: the gnomic will, but have never focused on the singular aspect of γνώμη, if not parenthetically. In a monothelitic and monoenergetic controversial context, the maximian speculation on Christ’s double will and energheia becomes the starting point of a new anthropological and Christological horizon: what is γνώμη? Has Christ a γνώμη and subsequently a gnomic will? Did sin change the way the human beings feel, think and act? At the same time, did sin corrupt Christ’s way of felling, thinking and acting? Trying to give an answer to this questions, we’ll arrive to the very heart of the inquiry: what is γνώμη? The present work tries to reveal the philosophical, patristic and biblical roots of this fundamental concept of Maximus Confessor’s speculation.
Abstract (Italian)

– 2. Maria-Alexandra Baneu (enrolled in 2013, supervisor prof. dr. Marta Petreu; transferred in 2013; PhD since 2016)

Conceptual Structures in the Work of Pelbartus of Themeswar - the Aureum Sacrae Theologiae Rosarium as a Reflection of Scotism in the 15^th Century

Pelbartus of Themeswar is a 15^th Century Observant Franciscan. Up until now, researchers have mostly paid attention to the collections of model sermons written by him, a real treasure for the historian trying to recreate the atmosphere of 15^th Century Central Europe. My interest in the works of Pelbartus of Themeswar is focused, however, on his philosophical conceptions, which are mainly expressed in the Aureum Sacrae Theologiae Rosarium. This work is a four volume theological encyclopedia which follows the structure of Peter Lombard’s Sentences. Thus, the first volume is about Trinity, the second about creation, the third about Christology and the fourth about the sacraments. The aim of my doctoral research is to analyze the manner in which Pelbartus compiles the volume on Trinity by using the texts of renowned Scotists, such as William of Vaurouillon, Petrus of Aquila and Francisus of Meyronnes, etc., as well as to underline the way in which he moves away from the Scotist tradition in certain situations (for instance, when he invokes the texts of Antoninus Florentinus, a Dominican who is influenced by the humanist movements of the 14^th Century).
Abstract (English)

II. dr. habil. Monica Brinzei is a PhD Supervisor in the Doctoral School of Philosophy of Babes-Bolyai University since 2017.

– 1. Luciana Cioca (enrolled in 2017)

The history of vesperial questions at the medieval universities

The research assumed by this doctoral thesis is focused on a particular type of philosophical disputation called vesperies, which was held at the universities of the Middle Ages as part of the graduation process (partly called inception). Two debates make up the entire vesperial session, both focused on the intellectual and argumentative prowess of the participants. The vesperies themselves are part of a threefold graduation structure, which ensures the title of magister and the right to teach. None of the three steps (licence, vesperies, aulic disputations) is currently the subject of extensive studies, focused on their history and particularities, which is why the thesis approaches the vesperies in a universal fashion, which entails: identifying official documents that regulate the course of the debates, cataloguing all extant vesperies (criteria: the vesperies survive in one or more manuscripts, the vesperies remain as fragments in other productions by the same author, or in other documents that identify it as such, or in other authors’ works, and the vesperies are only extant as mention that can be attributed to our type of disputation), and extracting relevant data regarding the authors’ inception date and the doctrinal positions as expressed throughout the vesperial question.

– 2. Mirela Niculescu (enrolled in 2019)

The fragility of human beings and the aspiration for the absolute in the writings of scholastics. An overview

The main core of this thesis is the holistic description of the fragility of the human being from a metaphysical, ontological and ethic - philosophical point of view, showing how the main medieval philosophers, especially the Scholastics, emphasized in their works what is seen in person as fragile in relationship with oneself, with society and ultimately with God.
The main purpose of the thesis is to show the importance and role of the will, the free will in leading the faculties of the human soul to achieve happiness, the ultimate goal of man.
The thesis starts from the assumption of what St. Paul - the apostle stated in 2 Corinthians 12: 9; 10: “My grace is sufficient for you. for My power is made perfect in weakness.” And "For when I am weak, then I am strong." Man - the human being endowed by God with rationality has the power and means to seek and find the ideal of the destiny of the human being and human perfection having the ability to act in the freedom of his will to lead a happy life despite his fragility and weaknesses.
The main philosophical concern is to seek to understand the human person, what make us fragile as human beings in our humanity and to show that what can make us fragile as human beings can become a source of power in which God can pour out his grace and love or to choose to be driven out by our desires to the worst in our being.

– 3. Andreea Ioana Scutelnicu (enrolled in 2019)

Free will

The concept of free will has been widely debated for thousands of years by many great philosophers without reaching a unanimous conclusion. However, with the evolution of science, new ways of studying it have emerged. Understanding the concept of free will is very important for both individual and social life, but especially for moral responsibility and accountability to the law. Three main perspectives on free will are libertarianism, which puts freedom first, as a basic principle, determinism, which supports the idea of determining all future actions by pre-existing causes, and compatibilism, which considers that free will and determinism are not in contradiction. All these philosophical paradigms have emerged over time, based on influences. For example, libertarians were influenced by Cartesian and Kantian ideas, compatibilists were influenced by empiricists such as Thomas Hobbes or David Hume, determinists had many influential thinkers such as Baruch Spinoza, Arthur Schopenhauer or Friedrich Nietzsche, each of these positions gathering many arguments to support his point of view. It often happens that an idea is supported by a whole series of arguments that go through time. In the case of free will, deterministic ideas were supported by new scientific discoveries.