NDPR Tobias Hoffmann Free Will and the Rebel Angels in Medieval Philosophy

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Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

2021.09.06 View this Review Online View Other NDPR Reviews

Tobias Hoffmann, Free Will and the Rebel Angels in Medieval Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, 2020, 292pp., $99.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781107155381.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Hause, Creighton University

Tobias Hoffmann's book focuses on Latin-language accounts of free will in the work of 13th and 14th century Christian philosophers. These philosophers draw on a complex network of traditions. The influence of Augustine is pervasive, and key ideas from Anselm, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Peter Lombard likewise shape these scholastic discussions. As the 13th century progresses, the conceptual frameworks of ancient Greek-speaking thinkers -- in particular Aristotle, but also Nemesius and Pseudo-Dionysius -- gain dominance. Of course, the Bible, interpreted in a spectacularly varied number of ways, also serves as an authoritative source. Despite the sometimes jumbled intricacies besetting this...