"Рэймонд Смаллиан. Две философские сценки (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

sinning, and this thought is what so frightens me!
GOD: Why does the thought of your sinning frighten you?
MORTAL: I don't know why! For one thing, you do have a reputation for
meting out rather gruesome punishments in the afterlife!
GOD: Oh, that's what's bothering you! Why didn't you say so in the
first place instead of all this peripheral talk about free will and
responsibility? Why didn't you simply request me not to punish you for any
of your sins?
MORTAL: I think I am realistic enough to know that you would hardly
grant such a request!
GOD: You don't say! You have a realistic knowledge of what requests I
will grant, eh? Well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do! I will grant you a
very, very special dispensation to sin as much as you like, and I give you
my divine word of honor that I will never punish you for it in the least.
Agreed?
MORTAL (in great terror): No, no, don't do that!
GOD: Why not? Don't you trust my divine word?
MORTAL: Of course I do! But don't you see, I don't want to sin! I have
an utter abhorrence of sinning, quite apart from any punishments it may
entail.
GOD: In that case, I'll go you one better. I'll remove your abhorrence
of sinning. Here is a magic pill! Just swallow it, and you will lose all
abhorrence of sinning. You will joyfully and merrily sin away, you will have
no regrets, no abhorrence and I still promise you will never be punished by
me, or yourself, or by any source whatever. You will be blissful for all
eternity. So here is the pill!
MORTAL: No, no!
GOD: Are you not being irrational? I am even removing your abhorrence
of sin, which is your last obstacle.
MORTAL: I still won't take it!
GOD: Why not?
MORTAL: I believe that the pill will indeed remove my future abhorrence
for sin, but my present abhorrence is enough to prevent me from being
willing to take it.
GOD: I command you to take it! '
MORTAL: I refuse!
GOD: What, you refuse of your own free will?
MORTAL: Yes!
GOD: So it seems that your free will comes in pretty handy, doesn't it?
MORTAL: I don't understand!
GOD: Are you not glad now that you have the free will to refuse such a
ghastly offer? How would you like it if I forced you to take this pill,
whether you wanted it or not?
MORTAL: No, no! Please don't!
GOD: Of course I won't; I'm just trying to illustrate a point. All
right, let me put it this way. Instead of forcing you to take the pill,
suppose I grant your original prayer of removing your free will--but with
the understanding that the moment you are no longer free, then you will take
the pill.
MORTAL: Once my will is gone, how could I possibly choose to take the