From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAutexousion names a power of acting on one’s own authority.
- In StobaeusIamblichus argues that divine correction preserves fate, providential goodness, and the soul’s self-determination together.
- In this edition“Self-determination” is useful when its local relation to providence is explained.
- A place to beginSelf-determination is preserved alongside fate and divine will.
- English renderings
- self-determination; acting on one’s own authority
Meaning
Autexousion names a power of acting on one’s own authority. It addresses agency without automatically supplying every feature of a modern theory of free will.
Use in the book
Iamblichus argues that divine correction preserves fate, providential goodness, and the soul’s self-determination together. Correction restrains disorder instead of abolishing destiny. The soul’s agency is asserted within that theological order, not defined through independence from every divine influence.
Places to read
- I.1.35Self-determination is preserved alongside fate and divine will.
Translation in this edition
“Self-determination” is useful when its local relation to providence is explained.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 43. The compressed clause about fate’s manifestation remains difficult; it should not be rewritten as a different claim about fate’s operation.