From On the Free Choice of the Will to Confessions

My interest in the philosophy and theology of Augustine of Hippo developed at the end of my fourth year at the University of Chicago. I decided to enroll in a course on St. Augustine’s Confessions. While I didn’t really know anything about Augustine going into the class, I had previously taken a course with the professor (Fr. Steven Brock’s course Aquinas on Law) and enjoyed the experience immensely. Little did I know what I was walking into…

Confessions, for the uninitiated, was written by St. Augustine between AD 397 and 400, while he was Bishop of Hippo. The text is part autobiography, part philosophical/theological analysis, all written in the form of an extended prayer. Augustine details the course of his life from his birth through his conversion, paying special attention to his sins and his spiritual struggle throughout his early life. While religion plays a central role in the work, the text is certainly not reserved for the religiously-minded; the work’s merit as one of the first autobiographies, as a beautifully written work of philosophical investigation, as a compelling depiction and analysis of universal experiences make Confessions a must-read. Augustine and his work continues to shape our understandings of literature, religion, and philosophy in ways I certainly did not expect when I first began my Augustinian journey. If any of this sounds interesting, I encourage you to read Confessions — I’ve included some links at the bottom of this post to an online version of the text and to resources that may help those who are unfamiliar with things like Manicheanism, Platonism, etc.

I fell in love with the text during this class. When time came for me to choose a thesis topic, I picked Augustine’s Confessions as my subject matter in hopes of understanding this incredible text more fully. I eventually narrowed my focus to Book VIII of the text, where Augustine describes his final struggle to convert. I was fascinated by his depiction of “warring wills” and the implications for this on his views of human freedom. After about 8 months reading, writing, rereading, rewriting, and editing, I completed my paper and was awarded special honors for my work.

My paper, Augustine’s Will: From On the Free Choice of the Will to the Confessions attempts to understand Augustine’s conception of the will and its freedom by drawing from the two key texts mentioned in the paper’s title. I track changes in Augustine’s thinking on the will from the early sections of On the Free Choice of the Will through his later account in Book VIII of Confessions. My exegetical examination of these works develops an account of Augustine’s conception of the will as something with parts that must interact with one another (and the rest of the self) to produce action. These parts, Augustine suggests, may interact more or less successfully, thereby giving us more or less freedom of the will. I further delve into Augustine’s views on habit and how habituation can, in the case of willing conversion, create a disconnect between the parts of the will and an inability to act wholly free. If this topic sounds interesting to you, I encourage you to read my full paper on Augustine’s conception of the will and its freedom. I am happy to answer any questions you may have or discuss my thinking in developing this theory either via email or in the comments below.

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Resources

Confessions, the text:

• If you have an institution/library login, I encourage you to look at Loeb Library’s edition of Confessions.
• You can read a free version at Project Gutenberg
• There are lots of other versions and translations out there, some easier to read than others. I’m a fan of Oxford Classic’s version, but I haven’t looked into other translations very extensively.

Helpful/informative resources on Confessions:

• Augustine of Hippo: A Biography by Peter Brown is a great resource for learning more about Augustine’s life (or the parts he doesn’t talk about much in Confessions). There are a few editions out there, some more expensive than others.
• The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (for those of you who don’t know) is a great resource. During my initial reading of Confessions, I particularly referenced their articles on Augustine and Neoplatonism.
• Augustine talks a lot about the Manicheans in Confessions; lots of editions of the text will provide some introduction that gives some context to this group. I’m sure there are other resources out there that can give even more insight if you’re interested.
• The Augustine episodes of the podcast A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps (episodes 110-116) are great for understanding current discussions about Augustine’s work and getting a wider perspective on his thinking. Also useful if you want to learn about his other works, like City of God.
• Lots of scholars have written about specific topics in Augustine’s work or how his thinking has influenced other philosophers — Love and St. Augustine by Hannah Arendt and Heidegger’s Confessions by Ryan Coyne are both good.

Note: The links to purchase these books are all from Amazon, but I encourage you to check your favorite bookstore to buy these works.

Image Source: de Champaigne, Philippe. Saint Augustine. c. 1645-50. Oil on canvas. https://cdn.britannica.com/27/195327-050-68E4C476/oil-Saint-Augustine-canvas-Philippe-de-Champaigne.jpg.