> as lemmas

?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) v. pr. iv. l. 4674 Þan ne weneþ it nat þat fredom of wille [L. arbitrii libertatem] be distourbed or ylett by prescience.

?1506 M. Beaufort tr. J. de Gruytrode Mirroure of Golde (Pynson) sig. H.iii^v Mercy, strength, beautye, lyghtnes, fredome of wyll, shalbe to the right wyse people.

1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. ii. f. 16^v The naturall desire in men to be well, maketh nothing to proue the fredome of wyll, no more than in metalles and stones, doth the affection inclinyng to the perfection of their substance.

1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης vi. 56 He confesses a rational sovrantie of soule, and freedom of will in every man.

1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 8 'Tis enough there, for the freedom of the will to stand alone in spontaneitate ad bonum, or self-willingness to good.

1767 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. (ed. 2) II. xxxii. 497 Such persons, as are intestable for want of liberty or freedom of will.

1783 B. Dawson Necessitarian iii. 8 You are desired, Cleanthes, to inform me..whether you are a Necessitarian in the strictest sense, or only deny absolute Freedom of Will.

1800 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 754/1 What is a world,..left to the conduct of blind chance, or directed by general and unchangeable law, by which all freedom of will must be made useless?

1884 F. Temple Relations Relig. & Sci. (1885) iii. 80 The freedom of the will is not shown in acting without motive, but in choosing between motives.

1923 Jrnl. Amer. Inst. Criminal Law & Criminol. 14 223 The punishableness of an act, in itself criminal, presupposes reason and freedom of will in the actor.

1972 J. Campbell Myths to live By (1988) iv. 76 Man has been given..release to an existence of his own, endued with a certain freedom of will.

2012 S. Harris Free Will 16 If you want a second scoop of ice cream and no one is forcing you to eat it, then eating a second scoop is fully demonstrative of your freedom of will.