Final answer:
Augustine's exploration of time as a subjective experience presents complex ideas without a definitive resolution, continuing to fuel philosophical debate. His argument for the coexistence of free will and divine foreknowledge advanced Christian thought, contributing significantly to the discourse on human agency and morality.
Step-by-step explanation:
When Augustine tackles the subject of time and existence in Book XI, he presents a complex examination that may seem confusing in places due to the abstract nature of the problems and the hypotheses he explores. Augustine's inclination towards understanding time as a subjective experience rooted in memory, anticipation, and perception, rather than as a series of objective events, leads him to conclude that time is an internal human construct instead of an external universal truth. Although Augustine's arguments offer insightful perspectives, particularly his explanation of the present containing the past and anticipating the future, they are not universally accepted as conclusive; the nature of time remains a topic of ongoing philosophical debate.
Augustine's discourse on the coexistence of free will and divine omniscience provides a basis for his argument that humans have the capacity to choose the good, despite living in a world that includes predestination as a feature of God's plan. His disputes against contemporaneous heresies reinforce his views on human freedom, sin, and divine grace, insisting upon the inherent goodness of creation. While Augustine’s arguments advanced Christian orthodoxy and were built upon in later philosophical developments such as Thomistic thought, they do not arrive at a definitive resolution but rather form part of an ongoing philosophical and theological dialogue that continues to engage contemporary thinkers.