On Augustine’s Way Out

Faith and Philosophy 16 (1):3-26 (1999)
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Abstract

This paper seeks to rehabilitate St. Augustine’s widely dismissed response to the alleged incompatibility of divine foreknowledge and free will. This requires taking a fresh look at his analysis in On Free Choice of the Will, and arguing its relevance to the current debate. Along the way, mistaken interpretations of Augustine are rebutted, his real solution is developed and defended, a reason for his not anticipating Boethius’s a temporalist solution is suggested, a favorable comparison with Ockham is made, rival solutions are rejected, and the aporetic nature of the problem is explained.

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David P. Hunt
Whittier College

Citations of this work

The Frankfurt-style cases: extinguishing the flickers of freedom.John Martin Fischer - 2022 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 65 (9):1185-1209.
Atemporalism and dependence.Taylor W. Cyr - 2020 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 87 (2):149-164.
Causal Time Loops and the Immaculate Conception.Jeremy Skrzypek - 2020 - Journal of Analytic Theology 8 (1):321-343.
What is so good about moral freedom?Wes Morriston - 2000 - Philosophical Quarterly 50 (200):344-358.

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References found in this work

Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility.Harry G. Frankfurt - 1969 - Journal of Philosophy 66 (23):829-839.
On Ockham’s Way Out.Alvin Plantinga - 1986 - Faith and Philosophy 3 (3):235-269.
Freedom and foreknowledge.John Martin Fischer - 1983 - Philosophical Review 92 (1):67-79.
Foreknowledge and Necessity.William Hasker - 1985 - Faith and Philosophy 2 (2):121-157.
Foreknowledge and Necessity.William Hasker - 1985 - Faith and Philosophy 2 (2):121-157.

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