To Will or Not to Will: A Close Reading and Interpretation of Augustine's Argument in 'Confessions'

Authors

Garrett Reese, University of DaytonFollow

Course

ASI110

Semester

Fall

Instructor's Name

Elizabeth Mackay

Year

2017

Writing Process

After receiving the assignment, I went back and re-read sections 20-24 in Chapter VIII of Confessions. These are the sections in which Augustine details his belief of two wills, a willing will and an unwilling will, and then proceeds to attack the Manichee faith, the religion he used to belong to, for their belief of a good and evil will. From there, I analyzed Augustine's arguments and summarized them before focusing in on making Augustine's argument the weaker one, instead siding with the Manichees that Augustine is arguing against in this chapter of the book. I approached it as seeing the Manichees as human, so they would be able to distinguish right from wrong despite what Augustine thought. I also elaborated on the idea that even if there is indecision in the right action to take, the Manichees still act, where Augustine wouldn't when confronted with his unwilling will.

After having Dr. Mackay run over my rough draft and the Write Place here at Dayton go over it a bit further, I submitted it for grading, where Dr. Mackay told me about the potential for publication here.

Recommended Citation

Reese, Garrett (2018) "To Will or Not to Will: A Close Reading and Interpretation of Augustine's Argument in 'Confessions'," Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing: Vol. 4: Iss. 2, Article 2.
Available at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/lxl/vol4/iss2/2