Critical Note on Free Will In De Libero Arbitrio, Liber II of Saint Augustine

Abstract

The problem of free will is a topic of interest for today and still integrates the body of big questions we do as humans. Medieval philosophers tackled this problem too, giving a particular answer: such is the case of the notions of free will and liberty (libertas), that I trace back in Saint Augustine analysing three arguments that involve a defense of free will, both human and divine. How can we have certitude of God’s omnipotence interacting with human freedom? Are humans free in spite of God knowing things regardless of time? These lines reflect the apparent conceptual qualms of this contradictions and seek what the Augustinian response to human and divine free will proposes.