Enneads VI.8: Of the Will of the One
Sixth Ennead, Book Eight
A. Of Human Free Will
DOES FREE WILL BELONG TO GOD ONLY, OR TO OTHERS ONLY?
1. Do the divinities themselves possess free will, or is this limited to human beings, because of their many weaknesses and uncertainties? (For we assume that) the divinities possess omnipotence, so that it would seem likely that their actions were free and absolutely without petty restrictions. Or must we hold that the (supreme) One alone possesses omnipotence, and unhampered free will, while in other beings (free will and opportunity) either ignore each other, or conflict? We shall therefore have to determine the nature of free will in first rank beings (the divinities) and also the supreme Principle (the One), although we acknowledge that both of them are omnipotent. Besides, in respect to this omnipotence, we shall have to distinguish possibility from actualization, present or future.
FREE WILL MUST BE FOR MEN, IF IT IS TO BE FOR THE DIVINITIES.
Before attacking these questions, we must, as is usual, begin by examining whether we ourselves possess freedom of will. First then, in what sense do we possess free will (or, responsibility, “that something depends on us”); or rather, what conception we should form of it? To answer this question will be the only means of arriving at a conclusion about whether or not freedom of will should be ascribed to the divinities, let alone (the supreme) Divinity. Besides, while attributing to them freedom of will, we shall have to inquire to what it applies, either in the other beings, or in the Beings of the first rank.