Was Lucifer a Gambler? A Rational-Choice Hermeneutic of Peter Olivi’s Treatise on Demons

Jean-Paul Azam ()

No 23-157, IAST Working Papers from Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST)

Abstract: This paper presents an interpretation of the main arguments used in Peter Olivi’s Treatise on Demons, published circa 1295 in Narbonne, Languedoc, within a rational-choice framework. This book has been widely praised as a landmark in the philosophical literature on personhood and personal freedom, since it was (re)discovered about a century ago. In it, Olivi discusses most of the relevant classical and medieval literature on this topic before stating his own position. In the scholastic tradition, the book does not make for easy reading. Moreover, it is evidently a “work in progress”, as pointed out by the translator. Many paragraphs end with “Ergo, etc.”, suggesting that he planned to add something, but could not find time enough for that. He died in 1298, aged 50. This paper offers a simple game-theoretic model aimed at articulating Olivi’s main arguments in a consistent rational choice framework, supported by many quotes translated from French into English by me. It suggests that the “fall of the devil” is used as a parable on human freedom and agency, given a set of incentives strategically chosen by “God” to minimize the number of “sinners”, with some potential interference by “Lucifer”.

Date: 2023-10-26, Revised 2024-11
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://iast.fr/pub/128652 null
https://www.iast.fr/sites/default/files/IAST/wp/wp_iast_157.pdf Full Text (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Was Lucifer a Gambler? A Rational-Choice Hermeneutic of Peter Olivi’s Treatise on Demons (2024)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tse:iastwp:128652

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IAST Working Papers from Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().