Augustine, Confessions | The Divided Will | Philosophy Core Concepts

This is a video in my new Core Concepts series -- designed to provide students and lifelong learners a brief discussion focused on one main concept from a classic philosophical text and thinker.
This Core Concept video focuses on Augustine of Hippo's work, the Confessions, specifically on his discussion of the ways in which a person's will can be divided between different objects and motives, so that, even though there is one single faculty of will, a person can experience wanting to do or choose something and nevertheless find him or herself choosing or doing something else.
Gregory B. Sadler is the president and co-founder of ReasonIO. The content of this video is provided here as part of ReasonIO's mission of putting philosophy into practice -- making complex philosophical texts and thinkers accessible for students and lifelong learners. If you'd like to make a contribution to help fund Dr. Sadler's ongoing educational projects, you can click here: www.paypal.com...

[@GregoryBSadler]

One of Augustine's discussions of the phenomenon of akrasia, or not willing what one thinks one ought to (or what would be good to)

[@Atavist89]

I'm going to remember this metaphysics of procrastination/ anti-procrastination next time I'm telling myself, "I'll start writing the essay in just a little bit". Augustine is such a cool guy.

[@GregoryBSadler]

He certainly is!

[@mrmelanson34]

Dr. Sadler, I really enjoyed this video seeing that it's so direct. I know that you're an Anselm scholar, and it seems you focus much of your studies on existential thought. I can't help but notice there are a lot of correlations between existential thought and Buddhist philosophy/thought/practice. To me, as someone who practices Buddhism, existentialism hits on a lot the same points that are discussed in the Sutta Pitika of the Pali Canon. Anyways, thank you for sharing these treasures.

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're welcome!

[@ludwigthouvenin2012]

this was amazing thank you for your work

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're very welcome!

[@SunshineInWoods]

Augustine argues against the Manichean (the sect he was part of) view that moral choices are about a conflict between the clearly divided good will and the bad will within us. He does so for two main reasons. The first one is that he sees the will as something unified and self-determining; this is why we actually have a faculty of choice, the second is that often it is not about choosing between good or bad, but rather between two or more things that are bad/good. This undermines the manichean dichotomy. Could we say that with each of your choices we are moving within a continuum between good and bad will and they affect our general direction in a sort of “cumulative” way?

[@pattiharrison1211]

❤️ thank you for teaching and posting

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're very welcome!

[@MrMarktrumble]

thank you.

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're welcome

[@scottburch100]

Thanks for the short format videos. You mention "Divine aid". Did God personally communicate with him? You don't explain what you mean by "divine" which normally means God.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Yep, Augustine means "God" -- he's an Church Father, so you can expect he'll mean by "divine" what most Christians tend to. Augustine -- like most of the Church Fathers -- thinks that God communicates with human beings in many ways, all of which are essentially "personal", when you get down to it. That's really outside of the scope of this particular video. But I highly suggest you read the Confessions -- it will be worth it

[@scottburch100]

Gregory B. Sadler Thank you for the suggestion. I will take your advice and read it. I plan to do a video series focused on reason starting with basic logic. I think a video series on logic without the clutter of philosophical history will be useful to people right away.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Scott Burch Well, I have to say that I tend to see that "clutter" as relevant, even to logic (one portion of my dissertation focused on Maurice Blondel's "concrete logic"). That said, there's some utility to thematic or disciplinary series. This Fall, I'm rolling out a new channel, focused on Critical Thinking, Logic, and Argumentation. If you produce a series, I'll check it out and perhaps link to it from the associated G+ page

[@scottburch100]

Gregory B. Sadler I did not mean "clutter" in a derogatory sense. Of course the history is important to a deep understanding. I am self educated. I do not have even a high school degree. I have spent over 30 years as a consultant. I say this to agree that you have the deeper understanding of the material than I do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I believe that there is a serious lack of basic reasoning skills in the world. Most of the forces that are acting upon us are a result of people not knowing how to use reason. At the minimum, I would like to teach people the forms of the known logical fallacies. I find them useful as a warning light for bad reasoning. I understand that just because something follows the form of a fallacy, does not necessarily make it non-rational. But, the alarms ring when they do. I want to teach other people how to listen critically and have the built in alarm. I look forward to your series.

[@elwizpresslays9727]

aint that maniheism anyway?

[@GregoryBSadler]

ain't what, buddy?