FREE WILL AND AUGUSTINE’S CONFIRMATION FROM THE FINAL JUDGMENT

This study examines the philosophical and ethical debate concerning human free will and moral responsibility—debates that could not be determined by reason alone—and presents Augustine’s doctrine of the Final Judgment as a convincing argument that guarantees the existence of free will and responsibility. This study argues that Western philosophers, heavily relying on reason, have failed to discover an objective foundation for the existence of free will. As a result, modern philosophers could not move beyond Kant’s view that free will remains merely a surmise for the interpretation of human action. In contrast, Augustine established a concrete foundation for the existence of human free will through the doctrine of the Final Judgment. He maintained that free will and responsibility are inseparable so that one necessarily entails the other. Augustine’s approach offers a compelling Christian argument for the discourse on free will.