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""The book analyzes the origin and development of the notion of the will in Saint Augustine's oeuvre. Organized chronologically, this study starts with an overview of the notion of the will in philosophical and Christian traditions anterior to Augustine as well as in Manichaeism (part 1). Part 2 shows that Augustine turns to the notion of the will in his early works in order to explain the origin of the evil. At this stage, inspired by Stoicism and the works of Cicero, Augustine equates human will to power, potestas, and believes that a good will is always capable to accomplish a good action on its own. Later, in the midst of anti-Manichaean polemics, Augustine recognizes the power that good and bad habits possess over human soul, but continues to assert will's dominance over passions and habits (part 3). Subsequently, an extensive reading of the Scripture, especially of Paul's Epistles, leads Augustine to assert that will's capacity to act well or badly depends on the source where will takes its delight, rather than on its obedience to the mind (part 4). At the time he writes his Confessions, Augustine is convinced that after the original sin, human will lost its capacity to delight in the spiritual reality. By consequence, human will is unable to act well on its own. Only the divine grace can restore will's capacity to delight in God freely and to act well.""

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9782851213303

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