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    Briefly: Anselm's Proslogion
    Briefly: Anselm's Proslogion
    Briefly: Anselm's Proslogion
    Ebook87 pages1 hour

    Briefly: Anselm's Proslogion

    By David Mills Daniel

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    About this ebook

    St Anselm (1033-1109) was an Italian theologian and philosopher and the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093-1097. He is best known for his work, Proslogion, in which he defends the Church and sets out his philosophy and argument for the existence of God, now known as the Ontological Argument. OA is now a commonly studied subject at schools and unive
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSCM Press
    Release dateJan 3, 2013
    ISBN9780334048459
    Briefly: Anselm's Proslogion

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      Book preview

      Briefly - David Mills Daniel

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, SCM Press.

      © David Mills Daniel 2006

      The Author has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Author of this Work

      The author and publisher acknowledge material reproduced from Anselm Proslogion with the Replies of Gaunilo and Anselm, trans. T. Williams, Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, ISBN 08722056570. Reprinted by permission of Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

      British Library Cataloguing in Publication data

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      0 334 04038 8/978 0 334 04038 5

      First published in 2006 by SCM Press

      9–17 St Alban’s Place,

      London N1 0NX

      www.scm-canterburypress.co.uk

      SCM Press is a division of

      SCM-Canterbury Press Ltd

      Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bookmarque, Croydon, Surrey

      Contents

      Introduction

      Context

      Who was Anselm?

      What is the Proslogion?

      Some Issues to Consider

      Suggestions for Further Reading

      Detailed Summary of Anselm’s Proslogion

      Detailed Summary of Gaunilo’s Reply on Behalf of the Fool

      Detailed Summary of Anselm’s Reply to Gaunilo

      Overview

      Glossary

      Introduction

      The SCM Briefly series is designed to enable students and general readers to acquire knowledge and understanding of key texts in philosophy, philosophy of religion, theology and ethics. While the series will be especially helpful to those following university and A-level courses in philosophy, ethics and religious studies, it will in fact be of interest to anyone looking for a short guide to the ideas of a particular philosopher or theologian.

      Each book in the series takes a piece of work by one philosopher and provides a summary of the original text, which adheres closely to it, and contains direct quotations from it, thus enabling the reader to follow each development in the philosopher’s argument(s). Throughout the summary, there are page references to the original philosophical writing, so that the reader has ready access to the primary text. In the Introduction to each book, you will find details of the edition of the philosophical work referred to.

      In Briefly: Anselm’s Proslogion with the Replies of Gaunilo and Anselm, we refer to Anselm Proslogion with the Replies of Gaunilo and Anselm, translated by Thomas Williams, 2001, Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, ISBN 0872205657.

      Each Briefly begins with an Introduction, followed by a chapter on the Context in which the work was written. Who was this writer? Why was this book written? With some Issues to Consider, and some Suggested Further Reading, this Briefly aims to get anyone started in their philosophical investigation. The detailed summary of the philosophical work is followed by a concise chapter-by-chapter overview and an extensive glossary of terms.

      Bold type is used in the Detailed Summary and Overview sections to indicate the first occurrence of words and phrases that appear in the Glossary. The Glossary also contains terms used elsewhere in this Briefly guide and other terms that readers may encounter in their study of Anselm’s Proslogion.

      Context

      Who was Anselm?

      Anselm was born in Aosta, in the north of Italy, in 1033. His father, a nobleman and landowner, opposed his desire to enter a monastery, so he left home, and made his way to Normandy. There he joined the Benedictine Abbey of Bec, where Lanfranc was prior. After Lanfranc moved to Caen as abbot, Anselm replaced him as prior, becoming abbot in 1078. During this time, he encouraged study and research at Bec, and also wrote books himself, including the Monologion and the Proslogion.

      Following William, Duke of Normandy’s (William I, 1066–87) conquest of England in 1066, the Abbey of Bec held English lands. As a result of visiting these, Anselm came to be well-regarded in England, and in 1093, after the death of Lanfranc, who had become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070, William’s son, William Rufus (William II, 1087–1100) persuaded a reluctant Anselm to succeed him. As William Rufus had taken over the assets of the archdiocese, acceptance involved Anselm in disputes about the rights of the Church with William and his successor, his brother Henry (Henry I, 1100–35). Anselm was forced to make two visits to Rome, to seek papal support, and on the second occasion, after an absence of four years, was only allowed back into the country two years before his death in 1109. He was canonized in 1494.

      What is the Proslogion?

      In the preface to the Proslogion, Anselm tells us about his reasons for writing the book. Encouraged by the monks at Bec, he had written another book, containing arguments for God’s existence. However, he was not satisfied with it, because it consisted of a ‘chaining together of many arguments’. He wanted a ‘single argument’, which would stand by itself as a proof of God’s existence. This would be a more appropriate kind of argument for a God who depended on nothing else, but on whom everything else depended for its existence and well-being. He applied himself to the task with vigour, but, unable to think of such an argument, and fearing that he was wasting his time, he tried to put it from his mind. However, he could not stop thinking about it, and what has come to be known as the ontological argument finally came to him. It has fascinated philosophers and theologians ever since because, unlike the cosmological and design arguments, which start from experience (or interpretations of experience), it is an a priori argument, which moves (with remarkable brevity) from the idea of God to his existence. Anselm records that, after he had written this argument down, the Archbishop of Lyons persuaded him to put his name to both of his books. Anselm also gave them new titles. The first, called, ‘A pattern for meditation on the rational basis of faith’, became the Monologion; the second, ‘Faith seeking understanding’, the Proslogion.

      But why did Anselm want to prove God’s existence and find a rational basis of faith? As a monk, he not only believed in God, but had dedicated his whole life to God’s service. He had all the knowledge of God that he required from God’s revelation of himself, in particular through the

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