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Marcin Trepczyński is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Warsaw, occupied with medieval philosophy and theology, including their logical and methodological aspects (main publications: https://uw.academia.edu/MarcinTrepczy%C5%84ski). Member of the organising committee of Logic and Religion congresses (https://www.logicandreligion.com/). Editor-in-chief of the journal "Edukacja Filozoficzna" / "Philosophical Education" (http://www.edukacja-filozoficzna.uw.edu.pl/).
Email: m.trepczynski@uw.edu.pl
In this paper, the theory of necessity proposed by Robert Grosseteste is
presented. After showing the wide range of various kinds of
determination discussed by him (connected with: (1) one’s knowledge
about the future, (2) predestination, (3) fate, (4) grace, (5) sin and
temptation), a different context of Grosseteste’s use of the notion of
necessity is analyzed (within logical and metaphysical approaches). At
the heart of his theory lie: the definition of necessity, which is that
something lacks the capacity (posse) for its opposite, and the distinction
between two perspectives within which we can consider necessity: (1)
the one according to which the truthfulness of a dictum determines that it
cannot be the opposite, (2) a pre- or atemporal one, as if something had
not yet begun. On these grounds, Robert explains that God’s omniscience
is compatible with contingency, including human free decisions. Robert’s
theory is still relevant and useful in contemporary debates, as it can
provide strong arguments and enrich discussions, thanks to the twoperspectives
approach, which generates nine kinds of positions on the
spectrum of determinism and indeterminism.