{"product_id":"st-anselm-and-his-fools-in-todays-world-von-otto-guggemos","title":"St. Anselm and his fools in today's world","description":"\u003cp\u003eSeminar 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\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ediscussion. We discussed Anselm of Canterbury's ontological argument for the existence of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGod. None of us was convinced that Anselm's proof was valid. In the beginning of the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eevening, we agreed with Schopenhauer who called Anselm's argument a \"charming joke,_\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebut we went on talking and found ourselves challenged by Anselm's argument. It triggered a\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ediscussion that clarified various issues of our thoughts. This paper will be an investigation of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe implications of Anselm's argument in the context of the contemporary western world -- an\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003einvestigation of the multiple tangents from Anselm's philosophy to the streams of the popular\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emindsets of our time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnselm (1033\/4-1109), archbishop of Canterbury, lived in a time when many people felt that\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ephilosophical method possessed an intellectual respectability which theology lacked. Some\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etheologians called Dialectics, like Anselm, started to apply philosophical dialectic and logic\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eto theological issues. The question of the time was how the independence of philosophy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecould 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\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof the Realists.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAbout 1070 he started his writing career. His most important works are Proslogium,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMonologium, and Cur Deus homo. Although calling Anselm the \"father of Scholasticism_\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emight be an exaggeration, he set the trend in theology and philosophy for the following\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecenturies by explaining the Christian faith in a rational, logical system. In the 12th century,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe Roman Catholic Church made him a saint, and in the 18th called him doctor ecclesiae.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnselm became best known for the ontological argument for the existence of God which he\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efirst formulated in the Proslogium. It goes as follows: God, Anselm defines, is the \"being\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethan which nothing greater can be conceived._ Since existence in reality is greater than\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eexistence in understanding alone, i.,q.n.m.c.p.11 existing in reality is greater than i.,q.n.m.c.p.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003enot existing in reality. Hence, if i.,q.n.m.c.p. existed not in reality, it were not i.,q.n.m.c.p.,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efor something greater than it could be conceived. This is an absurd contradiction in itself:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"certe hoc esse non potest.\" [...]\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"aw-variant-hidden-subtitle-div\" id=\"aw-variant-subtitle-9783640882120\"\u003e\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Libri","offers":[{"title":"Softcover - 9783640882120","offer_id":39442385272925,"sku":"9783640882120","price":10.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0940\/0622\/files\/54fa6db9-5dc2-4e94-8071-b9f6fae210f6.jpg?v=1778303492","url":"https:\/\/shop.autorenwelt.de\/products\/st-anselm-and-his-fools-in-todays-world-von-otto-guggemos","provider":"Autorenwelt Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}