Conception of free will in the Christian-oriented psychology

Mironova M.N.
PhD in Psychology, The head of the Psychology and Education chair at the Kostroma Region Institute of Raising Qualification for Pedagogical Staff. Psychology lecturer at the Kaluga Spiritual Seminary, Russia

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The article provides a synthesis of the psychological concept of human will and ideas of free will in a Christian anthropology, and builds a united model of free will upon this base. To do this we examine the structure of conscious behavior, the structure of volition behavior in a situation of low motivation to action (proposed by V.A. Ivannikov), a description of the volition process (made by S.L. Rubinstein), a description of the free will after St. John of Damascus, and some other sources. With the help of this general model is described the full development of volition — the «spiritual freedom», as well as some variants of the pathological states of will are discussed.

Keywords: free will, the semantic model of duty, delay action, discussion, decision, true identity, free choice, conscience, seeking God's will

Column: Theory and Methodology

For Reference

Mironova M.N. Conception of free will in the Christian-oriented psychology [Elektronnyi resurs]. Konsul'tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya = Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2010. Vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 83–109. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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