Maimonides' Determinism

Abstract

Saadia wrote from a philosophical point of view about the compatibility between free will and divine providence due to his knowledge of the doctrines of the kalām. Inversely, Maimonides didn’t try to solve the question, but he affirmed that the belief in free will is, according to Torah’s teachings, obligatory. Inversely, philosophy demonstrates that everything is determined by causes, and that there is not difference between the way in which humans and animals choose. The distinction between necessary and true beliefs is capital to the understanding of Maimonides’ dichotomy, and lead us to conclude that his true conviction about human will is that it is determined by causes.