nt that Mr. McVeigh is not ignorant. He happens to be a very smart man. Here is a perfect example of someone choosing harm, or evil without having the excuse of being ignorant. Unfortunately, we know there are many more people in the world like this. I give Plato the benefit of the doubt for his opinion because maybe in the time period he lived there were not these extreme examples of people choosing evils on purpose, without the excuse of ignorance. Augustine's writings on Free Will contain a segment about whether or not to choose sin. Augustine starts in the Garden of Eden, where all Christians believe everything began. Augustine states that in the Garden of Eden there were God's commandments from above and the serpent's, the Devil's, suggestions from below. God's commandments are the good and the suggestions from the serpent are evil. Augustine is real blunt when explaining what he believes. He says that if a person has reached a state of wisdom he shall have no problem in not succumbing to the suggestions from the serpent below. He states that even fools, the ignorant, will eventually be able to move on to a state of wisdom. They will then be able to overcome the evil suggestions of the serpent. Augustine does write that those who find wisdom after ignorance will have a problem letting go of the "sweetness" of the evil things they have become accustomed to (Pojman 407).Again, I see the rational of Augustine's argument. Being a Christian myself, I know and believe in the whole story of the Garden of Eden. The serpent came into the garden and tempted Eve with sweet fruit from the tree. When Eve took the fruit this is said to be the origin of sin. So the question is, did Eve choose evil? Did she know she was choosing evil? It is hard to specify. I guess I believe that Eve was in an ignorant state when she chooses to eat the fruit. She did not know the consequences of her actions. She knew she was not supposed to ta...
