St. Anselm and his fools in today's world

Seminar paper from the year 1998 in the subject Theology - Systematic Theology, grade: A+, Regent College, Vancouver, B.C., Kanada, course: The Gospel in the World of Thought: Christian Perspectives on the History of Philosophy, language: English, abstract: Not long ago, I met with some friends, Christians and non-Christians, for a philosophy

discussion. We discussed Anselm of Canterbury's ontological argument for the existence of

God. None of us was convinced that Anselm's proof was valid. In the beginning of the

evening, we agreed with Schopenhauer who called Anselm's argument a "charming joke,_

but we went on talking and found ourselves challenged by Anselm's argument. It triggered a

discussion that clarified various issues of our thoughts. This paper will be an investigation of

the implications of Anselm's argument in the context of the contemporary western world -- an

investigation of the multiple tangents from Anselm's philosophy to the streams of the popular

mindsets of our time.

Anselm (1033/4-1109), archbishop of Canterbury, lived in a time when many people felt that

philosophical method possessed an intellectual respectability which theology lacked. Some

theologians called Dialectics, like Anselm, started to apply philosophical dialectic and logic

to theological issues. The question of the time was how the independence of philosophy

could be reconciled with the Catholic position. In 1072, Peter Damian defined philosophy as ancilla dominae (maid of the Lord). Among the Dialectics, Anselm belonged to the group

of the Realists.

About 1070 he started his writing career. His most important works are Proslogium,

Monologium, and Cur Deus homo. Although calling Anselm the "father of Scholasticism_

might be an exaggeration, he set the trend in theology and philosophy for the following

centuries by explaining the Christian faith in a rational, logical system. In the 12th century,

the Roman Catholic Church made him a saint, and in the 18th called him doctor ecclesiae.

Anselm became best known for the ontological argument for the existence of God which he

first formulated in the Proslogium. It goes as follows: God, Anselm defines, is the "being

than which nothing greater can be conceived._ Since existence in reality is greater than

existence in understanding alone, i.,q.n.m.c.p.11 existing in reality is greater than i.,q.n.m.c.p.

not existing in reality. Hence, if i.,q.n.m.c.p. existed not in reality, it were not i.,q.n.m.c.p.,

for something greater than it could be conceived. This is an absurd contradiction in itself:

"certe hoc esse non potest." [...]