Course
Doctorate Degree
Research title
Free will and freedom in Augustine’s philosophy: a study from the “semipelagian” polemic
Research abstract
This work aims to analyze the controversy between Augustine and the so-called Semi-Pelagians about what the bishop had concluded from his opposition to Pelagius' ideas about free will. With this, we want to characterize a robust idea of freedom in Augustine, through a comprehensive view of his philosophy, observing the risk of moral determinism that is in the atmosphere of his latest works, especially De praedestinatione sanctorum and De dono perseverantiae . We will analyze how Augustine defends the compatibility between Grace and free will to verify, thus, if this new concept of freedom guarantees the possibility of human autonomy and its moral responsibility, or if Augustine, as the Semi-Pelagians suspect, does not escape determinism.
Graduate Advisor
Lorenzo Mammì
Lattes (curriculum vitae)