A Mind Is a Slave of Passion

A Mind is a Slave of Passion

While he may best be remembered for his classic autobiography Confessions, St. Augustine was also the author of The Problem of Free Choice, which raises many questions and provides answers for a plethora of questions regarding human life and the ability to think. He titles one of the sections of his book "A Mind is the Slave of Passion Through its Own Choice" (MS). In this section, he reveals many interesting thoughts on human nature through dialogue between two characters, Augustine and Evodious. (E. and A.) St. Augustine looks to discuss reason, knowledge, the concept of mind and control over it, and passion. The conclusion that is reached at the end of MSPOC by E. and A. is, not surprisingly, the point of the title itself. Throughout most of the dialogue A. seeks to show E. the error of his ways and to take him step-by-step to discover the power of the mind to govern itself.

The first major point in the text is that living and being conscious of living, due to reason, is not the same. A. uses the following logic to show E. how humans possess the ability to differentiate between the two. Since humans are considered superior to