After wading through pages and pages of weighty arguments about the problem of evil, the sovereignty of God, and human responsibility, I think these were my favorite quotes:

Augustine: I believe you also know that many human beings are foolish.
Evodius: That's obvious enough.


and,


Augustine: So tell me this: Do we have a will?
Evodius: I don't know.
Augustine: Do you want to know?
Evodius: I don't know that either.
Augustine: Then don't ask me any more questions.


:)

A great book by St. Augustine, yet I’m still a little weary of many arguments he used in this book. I believe that in other works, such as his magnum opus “De Civitate Dei”, he shifts positions on certain issues. That, or mainly because he didn’t expound enough on previous topics in this work. Not sure. Progress is a good thing. Read more Augustine. “..there was no discussion in these books of the grace of God, by which he so predestines his chosen people that he himself prepares the wills of those who are already using their free choice” (125).

“Please tell me: isn’t God the cause of evil?”

Im not sure what the term is for this phenomenon but we can just call it ignorance for lack of a better word but this is something that I stopped thinking a while ago but it’s always nice to be reminded of it;“ancient” or non-modern humans aren’t dumb, naïve, or fools.

This book makes that clear. It’s nearly 2000 years old yet the clarity of the logic, reason, issues at hand, the subtleties and manner of the problems that are dealt with reads like it could be written today and still be better than plenty of other (particularly philosophical) works.

Some of the core issues of the book are whether God created evil, what is evil, what is evildoing, what is the source of sin, how and why thinking about adultery (for example) is wrong to think about committing not just wrong only when the act is committed, how free will is necessary for morality, what the nature of humans is (rational animals), how can free will and foreknowledge be compatible, what is valuable and why, why humans have such an esteemed value above all else, existence as goodness, proof of existence (similar and before Decartes)

One need not be Christian to appreciate and learn from this book. (I’m agnostic)

Not to be a boomer but this book really squanders and deals with many of the (generalization) YouTube cringe atheist-esque type of people who attack on Christianity which are very basic. But on the flip side, so many ignorant Christians would do good to understand their religion from the lens of reason and philosophy too and not be blindly faithful.


The book has a clear influence on the way the world is today and that alone is reason to read it but it is very illuminating.

One star was nicked off because the last chunk of the 3rd book started to go too much into faith-based explanation as opposed to the more philosophical/reasoned based methods of the first 2 books.

Within the work, a version of the argument for free will that I accept is presented. A simply version goes like this: 1. it is the case that there are true moral claims. 2. Morality necessarily requires (a certain type of) free will. 3. Free will exists.

If you want a broad introduction to Augustine's philosophy, this book is a good place to start.

This book is an extended dialogue between Augustine and Evodius about many areas of Augustine's philosophy and theology. It begins with Evodius' controversial question "Isn't God the cause of evil," and after about 100 pages, Augustine makes his point that the free choice of the will is the cause of evil. However, through that 100 pages he discusses much more than questions about free will and the problem of evil. He also addresses in many words the problem of divine foreknowledge and free will, the doctrine of Original Sin, anthropology (especially our fallen moral state), ontology (he categorizes kinds of beings and meditates on the "souls" of animals and of humans), epistemology, and the philosophy of mathematics (mainly regarding numbers).

Our contemporary philosopher Thomas Williams, the translator, also includes a helpful introduction that describes different kinds of freedom ("free will") and identifies Augustine as a Libertarian with regard to free will. (Others have identified Augustine as a Compatibilist, a non-Libertarian; I have to research this further.) Finally, at the end of the book, Williams provides a selection from Augustine's Retractationes (Reconsiderations, as Williams appropriately translates it) in which Augustine comments on On Free Choice of the Will and picks out some of his own main points.

The difficulty of the book is that Augustine does not always stay on topic. I have heard that many of the Church Fathers have this writing style, which Dr. David Calhoun of Covenant Seminary describes as "long-winded" (hence, the 100 pages or so to answer Evodius' question). We tend to be much more direct and concise, sticking closely to a point. Thus, books like this require careful reading and re-reading. And that I will do.

I will say it is hard to read for a causal reader and takes a lot of time to process through. However, Augustine proves himself to be one of the brightest and most influential church fathers in all his writings and this in no exception.

Written in the style of Platonic dialogs, Augustine aims to set out the question of the relationship between the human will, God's foreknowledge, and sinfulness. While I think he left some subject out I wished he'd touch upon, he even acknowledges the limitations of the book and human understanding. Over all an exceptional read.

Goodread I would say everyone should read it I'll probably change my rating after I read it again I'll process my notes

Although Augustine was a Neoplatonist, his arguments are still cohesive and hold up to modern philosophical inquiry quite well.

Mi primer libro de filosofía, me lo dieron en la universidad para el segundo semestre, pero como soy una ansiedad lo ley bastantes meses antes. Fue refrescante para ser mi primer libro. Me gustó muchísimo, quedo totalmente anotado.

"Si no creéis, no entenderéis"

HATED books 1&2 omg I don’t have the words to express how ANNOYINGGGG they were. Can’t say I’m a philosophy fan unfortunately and those books were incredibly painful. Book 3 though???? Loved it. Can’t explain why there was such an extreme difference for me but there was. Maybe because there was less of the dumb guy? Sorry evodius!

Mr Augustine does not like to answer questions

Powerful

This is one of Augustine's early writings, from soon after his conversion. It records a conversation between himself and Evodius regarding free will. ... Augustine had very little access to Plato, and at this point in his life, probably nothing not quoted by another source. The dialogue is in fact based upon a real conversation, and not just a literary creation (a result of the philosophical community that Augustine lived in for some time after his conversion). However, Augustine edited it and added material (most of Bk. III) before publishing it.

The main things I thought a reader ought to note when reading this short work are (1) This is still the beginning of work on the will - it was not a major issue in philosophy until Augustine, although bits and pieces may be found, e.g. in Cicero; (2) Augustine's style is quite different from what most people are used to, especially since this is a record of an actual conversation; (3) the problem of evil for Augustine is of a different nature then that promulgated in modern times; (4) the only two people who had a paradigmatically free will were Adam and Eve - everyone else has a less than free will and requires God's grace to will effectively, even when they wish to do good.

It is an interesting work but still represents the early thought of Augustine. Those without a Neoplatonic background will find some of its arguments strange. There is no good introduction to Augustine - in my experience, you have to read a great deal of him in order to understand the typical way he thinks and the concepts he relies upon implicitly. Some Plotinus is probably useful.