The Philosophy Of Human Nature

In the Confessions by Saint Augustine, this great philosopher experiences many problems and emotions related to sin and evil. As a boy, he often felt darkness, blindness, and confusion while attempting to find rest in God. Augustine started out in childhood with a restless heart because he had to live in two different worlds. These worlds consisted of his mother’s Christian faith, and the world of everything else. These two worlds confused and disturbed Augustine as a child. Augustine’s father was pagan and his mother was Christian, and they both wanted him to be very successful in the world. As he became confused, he began asking questions that could not be answered such as, “Humans often feel restless, but what is it they need to feel at

The additional position in which Socrates resides, is that of the good man. As he elaborates himself, a good man is one who acts justly and keeps the good interest of others, as well as himself, always in mind (Plato). So a good man acts according to this mindset, acting justly in his treatment towards others, but also in his treatment of himself. Though he may not see the just treatment of himself as the end towards which his action is intended, such potentially altruistic consideration of the

Socrates was being guided by his moral beliefs when he decided not to escape from prison. Socrates informs us of his principle when he says, “[…] my first principle, that neither injury

In Augustine’s On Free Choice of the Will he explains that the human soul is predisposed to have a good will and that “it is a will by which we desire to live upright and honorable lives and to attain the highest wisdom” (Augustine 19, 1993). Augustine believes that in order to be free we must live according to our good will. To follow our good will we must live according to the four main virtues in life: prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice. He defines prudence as having “the knowledge of what is to be desired and what is to be avoided” (Augustine 20, 1993). Augustine establishes fortitude as “the disposition of the soul by which we have no fear of misfortune or of the loss of things that are not in our power” (Augustine 20,1993).

Socrates' belief was that he was called on by the Gods to live his life examining others and himself. He believed the necessity of doing what one thinks is right even in the face of universal opposition, and the need to pursue knowledge even when opposed. "I became completely convinced, to the duty of leading the philosophical life by examining myself and others."¹ Socrates believed that to desert this idea was ridiculous and would make his life absurd. Socrates chose to live a life of truth and not to worry about things that did not matter. For Socrates not to live his life by the plans and requests of Gods it would be disobedient and untrue to the Gods. Socrates was brought to court to defend

On the subject of Socrates’ views, he believed in natural law; a philosophy that states particular rights are ingrained by virtue within people established by nature and can only be understood through human reason. So long as a person’s actions do not harm or interfere with others, these actions would be considered just. Socrates is strongly opposed to the idea of an eye for an eye, vindicating that in under

First, we must clearly define free will, so that way there will be no confusion as we move along in this paper. This is the main theme of this paper, but also the main theme of Crito and the Apology. So in regards to Socrates he defines free will as a capacity of rational agents to choose a course of action from among various alternatives.

I have many times experienced, for example, knowing I should study but not wanting to. I was completely aware of the necessity, and the long-term benefits I would gain from studying, but chose not to. However, I also disagree with the way Plato divides the soul. Humans are far too complex to be divided into reason, desire, and passion, each uniform in themselves. Augustine points out that sometimes desires conflict with each other. If the soul were to be divided into parts with every internal conflict we have, it’d be thousands of parts to accommodate every desire and emotion separately. Augustine concludes instead that the soul is one unified part. Both sides of internal conflicts accordingly still belong to the same thing. However, he doesn’t name this beyond saying it is himself or his soul. My argument will elaborate on his conclusion. I believe weakness of will occurs because of conflicting desires. While Plato uses this word to refer to purely appetitive desires, I believe it can be extended under the modern definition of a desire as just something one wants. When I choose not to study, it’s because I desire to do something else. But, I also desire to make good grades from studying. I interpret of this as “desire versus desire” instead of “reason versus desire” because the rational path is still fueled by a desire. In my example, I reason that I should study from my desire to make good grades. If I didn’t want the grades, there would be no rational reason for me to

Socrates would rather be punished or die before he breaks the laws that were set forth by his state, and this he says later in the same passage, “I should run any risk on the side of law and justice rather than join you. (Cahn pg. 38 Apology b10-c2).”

that no one must do wrong. “…that to commit injustice is in every case bad and dishonorable for the person who does

Augustine is our exemplar to human nature, as well as the guideline to what it means to be human. He demonstrates both the good and bad qualities that humans obtain and show that not everything can always be all-good. In the Confessions Augustine talks about how he knows about his own imperfections. He states “At one time in adolescence I was burning to find satisfaction in hellish pleasures” (Augustine, Confessions, pg. 24). Many of his imperfections have brought a new way of thinking about the human being. In the Confessions, Augustine focuses on his autobiography and how sin comes from inside us humans. From this we have learned about the term introspective conscience and how it depicts when someone is constantly looking at him or herself and looking at the motivation to sin.

Augustine vehemently argued his beliefs on free will, never waffling on them. He wanted to maintain all of his ideas, and he did. He maintained the idea that humans have free will and are solely responsible for their own actions, and that God wills all humans to be saved. He

Although Socrates encourages questioning authority, he focuses on achieving morality and justice. He believes that

In this essay I will be discussing how St. Augustine ultimately solves the problem of evil, in a way that at times does go hand in hand with his religious views, however, at times contradicts what he is saying. In “ Confessions” Augustine who although does not in any way question the existence of God questions why God, someone who is all powerful, and all good still allowing people to suffer the way in which they are.

     According to Augustine, “Human beings are endowed with a power that he calls the will.” He emphasizes the will to being the center of freedom. Unlike other philosophers, who are determinists, Augustine, who has a libertarian view, sees our will as free choice. So for whatever we may choose to do, we become solely responsible for our actions which are caused by external factors instead of internal ones.