312 ARCHDEACON B. POTTER, M.A., ON 
the validity of all reasoning rests upon premises intuitively admitted, 
an argument which denied the truth of the intuition would ipso facto 
fail to establish its own validity. The testimony of consciousness is 
in itself adequate to establish the freedom of the will. 
Every argument adduced for “‘ Determinism,” or Necessitarianism, 
is vitiated by the logical fallacy of “begging the question.” The 
most plausible, drawn from government and history, tells us that 
“in every department of life we assume without argument that 
men’s actions are determined by their character.” To which the 
obvious reply is that the fact that, in a given set of circumstances, 
men usually* act in a particular way, does not prove them obliged to 
act in this way. The fact that they sometimes do not, proves there 
is no compulsion. And it is to be remarked that the will 
frequently alters the circumstances. 
May I again thank the author for the intellectual treat which he 
has afforded us in this admirable paper. 
Rev. C. L. DRAWBRIDGE said : The question is, are we merely the 
creatures of heredity and environment, or has the self some power 
of self-determination ? Every human action has a cause, but the 
question is what is the nature of that causation. I maintain that 
when alternative actions are presented to the mind, and rival 
motives are present, we are partially free, not only to select between 
those that are present but also to create our own motives. The 
determinist, on the contrary, maintains that we have no alternative 
but to follow the strongest motive, and that circumstances over 
which we have no contro] decide which motive is the strongest. He 
therefore contends that praise or blame are utterly out of place, and 
that the word “ought” should be excluded from the vocabulary 
of philosophy. 
One or two speakers confused (God’s) foreknowledge with pre- 
destination. The two are not identical. I may foresee a street 
accident without causing it. My contention is that God has given 
us a measure of free will—self-determination—and we are, and feel 
ourselves to be, responsible for our use, or abuse, of our power of 
initiative. God is responsible only for the gift, we, for our employ- 
ment of it. 
We have to consider the evidence of consciousness as compared 
* See, on this subject, the Discussion on Professor Caldecott’s Paper, 
“‘ Heredity and Eugenics,” read before this Society on May 23rd. 
