On Augustine’s Concept Of Will

Not only are the free will and predestination frequently employed in modern language,but the perspective itself could be found in the ideas of ancient philosophers.In the works of Augustine,free will is a concept which carries with it great moral significance.In On the Free Choice of the Will,Augustine’s intention is to express the idea that,‘We indeed have the free will to choose and at the same time to take responsibility for things’.Most scholars agree with this view;they are also more concerned with the tension between predestination and freedom.Especially in the context of Augustine,freedom symbolizes goodness,and our definition of good and evil will inevitably affect whether the will is free or not.From the outer to the inner senses,and rising to the highest rationality,the mind has twice turned.The mind of stage of creation before the first sin is seldom considered.The self before the appearance of God’s commandment has no knowledge about good and evil,and is not the Will.But this inevitable turning of self is the foundation of the Will.Augustine gravitated undoubtedly towards the idea of Prediction and Predetermination,yet likewise he did not deny his interpretation of Free Will.In On the Free Choice of the Will and other works,Augustine’s descriptions of “existent good”,“supreme good” and “doing good” are not clear.With the emergence of “original sin” and “libido”,the issue of free will becomes more complex.This article aims to reinterpret Will on the work of On the Free Choice of the Will.In the first chapter,I mainly discusses and explains the differences between several "goods",and in the last section,I will discuss the relationship between Augustine’s freedom and goodness,and the inevitable turning.In the second chapter,through this "inevitable turning" to talk about the inevitable turn of "pre-will".The point is that this necessary turning makes the Will become Will,and then the Will has the ability to judge good and evil.The thinking about ability conforms to Augustine’s thinking.So,the Will will the substance to the mind and from the mind to the God.It is not contradictory that Will returns by correct understanding and God has already pre-arranged this.