Overview: Augustine’s On Free Will and Retractions.

In On Free Will, Augustine is trying to prove three main ideas. First, he is trying to prove how it is manifest that God exists. Secondly, he is trying to answer the question: “Are all good things from God?” Third, he is trying to answer the question: “Is free will to be counted among ‘good things’?” By answering all of these questions, Augustine is ultimately trying to prove whether or not free will has been rightly given to men.

In this conversation between Augustine and Evodius, they both find that the highest form of sense is reason. They come to this conclusion after an extensive debate over the senses from which they discover that there are some things which use more than one of the senses to identify. Since some things belong to one sense and other things belong to more than one sense, you can’t decipher what belongs to which sense. In this case, there is something else within us that decides what it is. This must be reason. They go on to talk about reason and use an example as to why it must be reason that decides what an object is. To deny color is one thing and to see color is another thing and to have the sense that enables us to see color is another thing. You can see color with the eyes, but how do you see the other things? How do you see that which you can’t distinguish or that you can’t see? This leads Augustine and Evodius to come to the conclusion that all in the act of knowing that isn’t provided by sense perception is reason. Reason, in knowing the differences between the senses and itself, encompasses knowledge. Since reason is superior to everything, to all of the senses, including the “interior sense” which is superior to the normal sense, the only thing superior to reason must be God. The argument takes a twist however, when Augustine goes on to claim that there is something higher than reason.

Truth is higher than human mind and reason. So truth must be God. This was determined by Augustine after he told Evodius that he would find something that was superior to reason. Evodius agreed that whatever could be superior to reason must be called God. Before the idea of truth, they come across the idea of wisdom. Because without wisdom no one is happy because they can not hold the “chief good.” The “chief good” is possessed by wisdom, which is a truth. Augustine shows that“the rules of wisdom are true and unchangeable” (Hyman 45) and that wisdom and numbers have something in common because they are both true. They both encompass an “unchangeable truth which contains everything that is unchangeable true” (Hyman 46). This leads to Augustine finding that “If truth is neither inferior to nor equal to our mind it must be superior and more excellent” (Hyman 47). We can not pass judgment on truth like we can on our minds. Augustine previously argued that when something passes judgment on another thing, the thing to pass the judgment is seen as superior. So truth is superior to human mind and reason. So, truth is God. “God exists and is the truest and fullest being” (Hyman 49).

Augustine has also proven that all good comes from God. This begins with a discussion of numbers where Augustine makes it clear that nothing can exist if it is not in numbers. “Neither by bodily sense nor by the thinking mind can you find and mutable thing which is not contained in some numerical form” (Hyman 51). This makes perfect sense because things exist in numbers. There is one of me and one of you etc. Augustine then tells Evodius in talking about body and life, body which a beast has and life which man has:

“Well, these two created things, body and life, being ‘formable’ as we said and returning to nothingness when form is completely taken from them, clearly show that they owe their existence to the form which remains always the same. There can be no good things, whether great or small, which do not owe their existence to God” (Hyman 52).

This being said, since everything must exist in form (in numbers), they owe existence to truth- the form that never changes; truth which is God. So since God creates everything, all good must come from God. After this is prove, Augustine leads Evodius on to the debate on whether or not free will is to be counted among good things.

Augustine argues that free will should be counted among the good things because God created it. He states that:

“Nothing of any kind can happen which is not of God. Do not hesitate to attribute God as its maker every thing which you see has measure, number and order. When you take these things completely away nothing at all will remain. Wherever measure, number and order are found, there is perfect form” (Hyman 55).

He then states:

“For if the perfection of form is good, the beginning of form is not without some grain of good. Take away all good and absolutely nothing will remain. All good is from God. Hence there is no natural existence which is not from God” (Hyman 55).

Now that it is established that free will is among good things, it is the job of Augustine to determine for Evodius, whether or not free will has been righteously given to man. Evodius is concerned that free will should not have been granted to man because of the inclination that man has to abuse it. Augustine uses examples such as having hands and eyes to disprove this:

“You see of how much good a body is deprived if it has no hands, and yet a man makes a bad use of his hands who uses them to do cruel or base deeds” (Hyman 53).

If we did not have hands, we would not be able to do a lot of things. Just because we can use our hands for bad things does not mean that we should not have hands. The same goes for free will. Just because free will can be abused does not mean that we should not be grated our free will. Instead of being deprived of free will, those who use it unjustly should be condemned by the one who granted it to us; God.

Lastly comes the debate about whether or not free will is actually free. Since God already knows what is going to happen in life (predestination), how is free will free? To Evodius, this is a contradiction. God has planned out our whole lives, meaning that he knows what is going to happen to us and where we will end up; heaven or hell. So, if God knows what will happen, how is it that we can sin voluntarily? How are any of our acts voluntary rather than necessary? Augustine tells Evodius that God has foreknowledge of our power to will. This means that God knows that you will choose with your will power. This does not mean that God has chosen it for you. Although God knows where your free will is going to lead you, it is not God making the decisions for you, it is you making the decisions through your own free will.

In conclusion, we have discovered that God does exist, all good things come from God, free will is a good thing, and free will is still free will even though predestination is a factor.

In Retractions, Augustine is defending himself against the Pelagians. They believe that in On Free Will, his arguments are putting him on their side. Augustine says that the Pelagians hold a view of free will that does not encompass the grace of God. Here Augustine is proving that he does not agree with the Pelagians and showing all of the points that he made that show how wonderful free will is, and that ultimately it is from God. He says that at some points he did not mention God’s grace because at that time, that was not “the subject” with which he was dealing. He says that he was not “entirely silent about this grace of God, which they attempt with unspeakable wickedness to deny” (Hyman 66). Augustine goes on to tell of places in which he mentioned the grace of God to make it clear that he attributes free will to God. He is also saying that this discussion was to be aimed at the Manichees. Augustine thus, is still very steadfast in his views that free will is of God’s grace.

Works Cited:

Arthur Hyman, and James J. Walsh, ed. Philosophy in the Middle Ages. 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1973.

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