The Inner Struggle from Augustine to Shakespeare

The paper discusses different variants of mental conflict. Developing the model of A. W. Price, it differentiates between i) oscillation, ii) vacillation, iii) lack of self-control, iv) struggle with external powers, and v) identity change. The two last alternatives depict a heteronomous constitution of human mind, a theme often employed in Christian tradition. It is shown that all five alternatives are known and regularly employed between 400 and 1600 AD. Religious, philosophical, and literary texts can be compared to one another from the perspective of the alternative employed to describe the nature of inner struggle. Prominent authors discussed include Paul, Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, John Buridan, Petrarch, Marsilio Ficino, Martin Luther, Edmund Spenser, and William Shakespeare.