On the contrary, in his controversy with the Donatists, Augustine argues that freedom in fact depends not on the autonomy of the will but on the end to which the will is moved. I do not wish to defend Augustine’s justification for the use of civil authority to compel the Donatists to rejoin the Catholic fold. What is interesting about the way Augustine argues in this matter, however, is his conceptualization of the relationship between freedom and coercion. For Augustine, the most important question