On the Freedom of the Will

E91461

book philosophical treatise

On the Freedom of the Will is a philosophical treatise by Arthur Schopenhauer that critically examines the nature of human freedom, moral responsibility, and determinism.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
On the Freedom of the Will canonical	3
Über die Freiheit des menschlichen Willens	2

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T765872 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: On the Freedom of the Will
Context triple: [Arthur Schopenhauer, notableWork, On the Freedom of the Will]

A. The Freedom of the Will
The Freedom of the Will is an influential 18th-century theological and philosophical treatise by Jonathan Edwards that rigorously defends a compatibilist view of human freedom and divine sovereignty.
B. On Free Choice of the Will
On Free Choice of the Will is a philosophical and theological treatise by St. Augustine that explores human freedom, moral responsibility, and the problem of evil in relation to divine justice.
C. The System of Ethics
The System of Ethics is a foundational philosophical work by Johann Gottlieb Fichte that systematically develops his idealist moral philosophy and theory of human freedom.
D. Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect
Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect is an unfinished philosophical work by Baruch Spinoza that outlines a method for improving the mind to attain true knowledge and intellectual perfection.
E. Rules for the Direction of the Mind
Rules for the Direction of the Mind is an unfinished philosophical and methodological treatise by René Descartes that outlines his early ideas on scientific method and rational inquiry.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: On the Freedom of the Will
Target entity description: On the Freedom of the Will is a philosophical treatise by Arthur Schopenhauer that critically examines the nature of human freedom, moral responsibility, and determinism.

A. The Freedom of the Will
The Freedom of the Will is an influential 18th-century theological and philosophical treatise by Jonathan Edwards that rigorously defends a compatibilist view of human freedom and divine sovereignty.
B. On Free Choice of the Will
On Free Choice of the Will is a philosophical and theological treatise by St. Augustine that explores human freedom, moral responsibility, and the problem of evil in relation to divine justice.
C. The System of Ethics
The System of Ethics is a foundational philosophical work by Johann Gottlieb Fichte that systematically develops his idealist moral philosophy and theory of human freedom.
D. Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect
Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect is an unfinished philosophical work by Baruch Spinoza that outlines a method for improving the mind to attain true knowledge and intellectual perfection.
E. Rules for the Direction of the Mind
Rules for the Direction of the Mind is an unfinished philosophical and methodological treatise by René Descartes that outlines his early ideas on scientific method and rational inquiry.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	book ⓘ philosophical treatise ⓘ
addresses	distinction between intelligible and empirical character ⓘ problem of moral responsibility under determinism ⓘ relationship between character and action ⓘ
argues	empirical freedom of the will is an illusion ⓘ human actions are determined by motives ⓘ moral responsibility is compatible with character-based necessity ⓘ
author	Arthur Schopenhauer ⓘ
awarded	Norwegian Royal Society of Sciences prize ⓘ linked to: Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters
centralConcept	empirical character ⓘ intelligible character ⓘ necessity of motives ⓘ will ⓘ
commissionedBy	Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	Germany ⓘ
criticizes	libertarian conceptions of free will ⓘ theological doctrines of absolute free will ⓘ
followedBy	On the Basis of Morality ⓘ
follows	The World as Will and Representation ⓘ
genre	philosophy ⓘ
hasForm	prose ⓘ
influenced	20th-century analytic discussions of free will ⓘ existentialist debates on freedom ⓘ
influencedBy	Christian theology ⓘ Immanuel Kant ⓘ determinist metaphysics ⓘ
language	German ⓘ
mainSubject	determinism ⓘ free will ⓘ human freedom ⓘ moral responsibility ⓘ
notableFor	systematic defense of the necessity of motives ⓘ winning a philosophical prize competition on free will ⓘ
originalTitle	Über die Freiheit des menschlichen Willens ⓘ linked to: On the Freedom of the Will
partOf	Schopenhauer’s prize essays ⓘ
philosophicalPosition	compatibilism (in a distinctive Schopenhauerian form) ⓘ
philosophicalTradition	German idealism (critical response) ⓘ pessimism ⓘ
publicationYear	1839 ⓘ
relatedWork	On the Basis of Morality ⓘ The World as Will and Representation ⓘ
structure	essay ⓘ
timePeriod	19th century ⓘ
topic	causal necessity ⓘ motivation ⓘ responsibility and guilt ⓘ theological conceptions of sin ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Arthur Schopenhauer → notableWork → On the Freedom of the Will ⓘ

On the Freedom of the Will → originalTitle → Über die Freiheit des menschlichen Willens ⓘ

linked to: On the Freedom of the Will

On the Basis of Morality → relatedWorkByAuthor → On the Freedom of the Will ⓘ

Schopenhauer’s prize essays → containsWork → On the Freedom of the Will ⓘ

Schopenhauer’s prize essays → originalTitleOfPart → Über die Freiheit des menschlichen Willens ⓘ