A SIGNIFICAÇÃO DO TERMO “VONTADE” NAS OBRAS DE SANTO AGOSTINHO

The subject of the will was few explored in the antiquity, meanwhile, Augustine develops his moral issues from the assumption of the human will. Somehow, replaces the Socratic moral intellectualism by the ethical voluntarism. This article will examine the meanings of the "will" (voluntas) salient in the works of Augustine, highlighting three definitions: the first introduces the will as the free movement of a rational soul (motusanimi); the second considers the will as a consent (consensus); and the third understands the will as love (amor/cupiditas/caritas). The love is the deepest that we can say of the human being. The science and the knowledge can be of great importance, but they can not make a person to be good. Only the love is capable of do it.