Ma`rifat

Allameh Tabatabai emphasizes the criterion of relative possibility in resolving the apparent contradiction between human freedom and causal determinism. According to this criterion, determinism does not arise from the relation of the effect with anything other than the complete cause, and the principle of causality is not in conflict with human freedom. Among contemporary proponents of compatibility, some find Allameh's criterion insufficient. Ayatollah Subhani and several of his like-minded colleagues are the main critics of this view, arguing that Allameh's criterion accommodates non-free beings but obstructs free simplicities. They assert that it is possible to compare a non-free phenomenon with an incomplete cause, indicating that freedom exists; however, in free simplicities, due to their simplicity, this comparison is not possible, indicating that freedom does not exist. Furthermore, they argue that the main issue of incompatibility pertains to the complete cause, and Allameh's explanations stray beyond the point of contention. Analyzing Allameh's view reveals that a free agent has freedom prior to necessity, and non-free beings in this context are negative propositions because of their subject being non-exisiting ab initio. In addition, possibility is the criterion for freedom, which also applies in possible simplicities. Freedom is the stage before the complete cause and the necessity of a thing, and a thing’s becoming necessary and complete through freedom does not contradict its freedom.