Abstract

Augustine defends three claims about the passions: The Stoic position differs only verbally from the Platonic-Aristotelian position. The Stoic positionis wrong and the Platonic-Aristotelian position is right. The will is engaged in the different passions; indeed the different passions are different expressionsof the will. The first two claims, properly understood, are defensible. But the most plausible versions of them give us good reason to doubt the third claim.