Costa, Iacopo

Do Demons Continue to Sin? - 2021.


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The article studies scholastic theories of demonic obstinacy among a few theologians of the second half of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century. We analyze, in particular, how these authors characterized the state of the will of damned creatures. Unlike the will of the viatores, which can be either good or bad, and the will of blessed angels, who can no longer sin, the will the damned appears in the paradoxical situation of freely causing, in whole or in part, the very act which constitutes their punishment and from which they would like to free themselves.