Augustine's life and philosophical influence

FDI

Augustine and Free Will

Augustine is widely recognized by philosophers, religious leaders and many others for his handling of the subject of free will (Catholic Encyclopedia, 2005). Augustine teaches the freedom of the will against the Manicheeans, but insists against the Semipelageians on the necessity of grace, as a foundation of merit. He also clearly emphasizes "the absolute rule of God over men's wills by His omnipotence and omniscience -- through the infinite store, as it were, of motives which He has had at His disposal from all eternity, and by the foreknowledge of those to which the will of each human being would freely consent."

Augustine's teaching formed the basis of the subsequent theology of the Church on many questions related to free will, though other writers have attempted to soften the stricter portions of his doctrine (Catholic Encyclopedia, 2005). The teaching of St. Augustine is developed by St. Thomas Aquinas in theology and philosophy. Will is rational appetite. Man necessarily wants beatitude, but he can freely choose between various forms of it. Free will is simply this elective power -- the freedom to choose.

Infinite Good is not clear to the intellect in this life (Catholic Encyclopedia, 2005). There are usually drawbacks and deficiencies in every good that is presented to us. None of them weakens our intellectual capacity of conceiving the good. As a result, in deliberate volition, not one of them completely satiates or entices the will. According to: "In this capability of the intellect for conceiving the universal lies the root of our freedom. But God possesses an infallible knowledge of man's future actions. How is this prevision possible, if man's future acts are not necessary?

God does not exist in time. The future and the past are alike ever present to the eternal mind as a man gazing down from a lofty mountain takes in at one momentary glance all the objects which can be apprehended only through a lengthy series of successive experiences by travellers along the winding road beneath, in somewhat similar fashion the intuitive vision of God apprehends simultaneously what is future to us with all it contains."

Augustine assumes the will is free and wants to determine how we choose good or evil (Murray, 2004). His approach to the "free choice of the will" assumes that "there can be no denying that we have a will." Rather, he defines "good will" as "a will by which we seek to live a good and upright life and to attain unto perfect wisdom" which assumes that it is free.