OneOfMany –
What logical reason could goyish philosophers have for supporting that consensus?
They don’t of course. They didn’t believe in ????? ????? at all.
As for your quote from NH, when it comes down to it you are saying that there is nothing inherently Godly within every human being, only that humans have an attribute that God also has. Which can answer your “cheilek Eloka” question, though I’m not altogether sure what that means.
The axiom ??? ???? ????? is not to say that this is how they are programmed. It is an after-the-fact acknowledgement of the situation. In fact Rashi (Bereishis 33:4) says it isn’t always true. Non-Jews have freewill too. If they didn’t, then there would be no reason for righteous non-Jews to have a share in the World-to-Come, which they do.