James Dundas on Seneca, Descartes and the Fall

James Dundas, first Lord Arniston (c.1620-1679), was a Scottish law lord who left at his death a 313-page manuscript entitled Idea philosophiae moralis which has only recently come to light. In this paper, there is a brief account of his life and work, followed by a discussion of his response to Seneca and to Descartes regarding the extent to which happiness is something that we can achieve by an act of will. Dundas deploys the Calvinist doctrine of the Fall to explain the difficulties in our way when we exert our will in the attempt to secure happiness