Libre albedrio

Edison Patino
Essay B:

1) Referring to On the Free Choice of the Will, summarize and explain Augustine’s definition of “evil,” how he defends the notion that the will is an intermediate good,and how he argues that free will is consistent with divine foreknowledge.

Augustine states that all things created by God are good and evil does not exist. However, due to the fact thatindividuals misuse their free will, evil comes to exists. For him, God did not create evil, evil is simply the name we give to each individual’s wrong choices. Evil is also a turning away fromunchangeable goods to changeable goods. This turning is not caused by necessity but is voluntary and as a result, it is a sin.
Augustine explains that God is the creator of all causes; however, there arethings in which God is not the direct cause of something. In other words, God causes absolutely everything in which he is the direct cause, but in terms of necessity he allows individuals to choose.God created all good, including the free will, but evil come to exits because individuals’ misuse of their freedom. As a result, what the individual decides to do with this gift is their decision. Forexample, 911 was not caused by God, but by individuals who did not use their free will rightly. In this case, God is not the direct cause for this event, but individuals. God does not cause anindividual to sin, however, he does cause us to have a free will
For Augustine there is no doubt that God is all-knowing. What God knows must come the way he knows and people cannot contradict God’sknowledge; however, God does not make it happen. Augustine clearly states that free will is not fixed by nature but it is voluntary: as a result, humans have a free will to take them in any directionthat they want. If this was not the case, humans would be like robots, and there would be no merit in doing right or blame when doing wrong. Augustine reassures us that God’s foreknowledge does...