De libero arbitrio (Augustine)

De libero arbitrio ( Latin for about free will) is a writing by the Christian bishop Augustine of Hippo , which is divided into three books, the 387-9 in Rome (Book 1) and approx. 391–395 in Africa (Books 2– 3) were written. The subject is human free will .

Augustine began the work as part of an anti- Manichaean series of writings and at the same time argued partially against skepticism . In the first volume the author turns against determinism by making the striving for an answer to the question of whether freedom exists an argument itself and a precondition for knowledge . In parts of the second and third volumes, the author worked out a justification for the existence of God .

literature

Text output

Aurelius Augustinus: Opera . Volume 9: De libero arbitrio (B, early philosophical writings), bilingual edition, edited, introduced and translated by Johannes Brachtendorf. Schöningh, Paderborn 2006. ISBN 3-506-71764-2

Secondary literature

Therese Fuhrer : De libero arbitrio (About the free decision-making authority) , in: Volker Henning Drecoll (ed.): Augustin Handbuch, Theologen-Handbücher, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2007, pp. 270-272.
Simon Harrison: Augustine's Way into the Will - The Theological and Philosophical Significance of De libero arbitrio , Oxford University Press, Oxford 2006.
Klaus Kahnert: Augustine: De libero arbitrio - About the free will decision , in: Uwe an der Heiden / Helmut Schneider (ed.): Does man have free will? The answers of the great philosophers, Reclam, Stuttgart 2007, pp. 87–99.

Web links

Text output

Latin text of the Patrologia Latina , vol. 32
- at augustinus.it ( HTML full text according to volume)
- from Peter King ( ASCII full text in one file)

supporting documents

↑ David E. Roberts: Augustine's Earliest Writings , in: The Journal of Religion , Volume 33 No. 3, July 1953, pp. 161-181, p. 175.
^ Henry Chadwick : Augustine in: Frances Margaret Young, Lewis Ayres, Andrew Louth (eds.): The Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature , CUP, Cambridge 2004, pp. 328–341, pp. 330–331.

[1] David E. Roberts: Augustine's Earliest Writings , in: The Journal of Religion , Volume 33 No. 3, July 1953, pp. 161-181, p. 175.

[2] Henry Chadwick : Augustine in: Frances Margaret Young, Lewis Ayres, Andrew Louth (eds.): The Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature , CUP, Cambridge 2004, pp. 328–341, pp. 330–331.