Audustine's Confessions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Audustines Confessions - Essay prototypeThe traditional understanding of free-will asserts that Adam and even were innate(p) of Godly nature, but because of illicit impulses or voraciousness were torn away from this goodness and thrown into sin. The resultant occurrence is that all of humanity is whence born into sin and requires Gods grace for their freedom. Furthermore, Augustine makes the point that original sin is not only corporal in wayward reason and impulses, but in the very physicality of man. This is, after Adam and Eve committed their act of original sin they had to wear clothing, because their actual pure physicality was an extension of the sin. This archetype indicates that man is a physical extension of the depravity of existence. That even as depraved reasoning is an essential characteristic of humanity leading them towards sin, and even as Augustine allows for the concept of the freedom of the will, man is ultimately cursedly because his physicality is even embe dded as a sinful act. This essay considers Augustines concept of original sin, parameter that his philosophical construct is misguided as it gives too much credence to deterministic thinking, ignores that wrongdoing is oftentimes the result of external circumstances, and doesnt acknowledge the amount of altruism that exists in the world.If all actions are predestined, as Augustine believes they are, then the idea of free will seems impossible, and ascribing responsibility to persons who cannot make their own choices seems wrong. However, to some extent it seems that Augustines ism demonstrates a hard to define confluence between pre-destination and free-will that have led some scholars to argue that in that respect are actually two different Augustinian philosophies, themselves mutually contradictory (Rist 1972). Adequate research into Augustine demonstrates that these concepts are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as Augustines understanding reveals subtle characterizations t hat bind their philosophic elements in loan-blend