Starting from the analysis of the first book of De libero arbitrio, the Italian philosopher Sergio
Cotta (1921-2007) explores the relationship between law, morality and safety in
Augustine’s thought. According to Cotta, Lib. arb. I contains implicitly a complete typology
of the four normative judgments used in jurisprudence, philosophy of law and legal science:
(i) judgments of legality; (ii) judgments of validity; (iii) judgments of purpose; (iv) judgments of
morality. The analysis of the relationship between these four types of normative judgments
allows us to interpret correctly Augustine’s most famous sentence: mihi lex esse non videtur
quae iusta non fuerit.
