AGOSTINO. VOLERE E POTERE

This contribution reconstructs – with the necessary references to the Manichaean and Pelagian positions – the relationship between will and power in the Augustine’s thought. It focuses on the Book VIII of Confessions, extending to the previous (especially De duabus animabus, De libero arbitrio III) and following (especially De natura et Gratia, De Civitate Dei V and XIV, De Gratia et libero arbitrio) texts, in which the themes of this Book are developed. According to Augustine, the human will, when it is not gathered in itself, is not performing; but even when it is performing, it is unable to carry out what it proposes. This double impotence introduces the theme of original sin and opens up a perspective on the theme of velleitas.