Ma`rifat Adyan

Abstract Moral weakness is a psychological phenomenon; the question raised here is that that how man carries out an action despite having knowledge that it is wrong. This paper examines the viewpoint of two Christian theologians and scholastic philosophers; Augustine and Aquinas, about moral weakness. In Augustine`s viewpoint, moral sin is committed when man, in his will power, ignores the eternal and infinite good or even turns away from it. Adam was the first man who committed a sin due to the weakness of his will; a sin that caused the Fall of Adam. The weakness of man`s will runs from generations to generation and leads to moral evils. Tomas believes that there are two powers for self; one is superior and the other is inferior. The first one is desire and the second one is will. Augustine believes that having mere knowledge is not enough for carrying out moral acts. Rather formation of other principles of voluntary action is required for a moral action. He believes that a normal human being, as a sinful moral agent, never commits a sin with a pre-planned pertinacity. Rather he misuses his power of choice when he has the will to choose. On the contrary, a corrupt and wicked man chooses to commit a sin, because those sins are basically in line with the principles and objectives that he has chosen for his life.