The proslogion written in, was written as a prayer, or meditation, by the medieval cleric anselm which serves to reflect on the attributes of god and. Anselms argument reconsidered lynne rudder baker and gareth b. Ontological arguments stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Anselm presents the ontological argument, an argument for the existence of god in which god is defined as, a being than. The philosophical consensus seems to be that the argument is hopeless. Saint anselm of canterbury 10331109 was the outstanding christian philosopher and theologian of the eleventh century.
Plato held that the forms are real, aristotle denied the reality of the forms. In this paper i argue, against plantinga and others, that kants claim is indeed relevant to anselms argument, in the straightforward sense that if the claim is true, then anselms argument is unsound. What everybody knows is wrong with the ontological. Apparently anselm thought these proofs too complex, for in proslogion, he says that he searched a long time for a simpler proof. What is common among these versions of ontological argument, including anselm s argument for god s existence, is the claim that it is selfcontradictory to deny the existence of a greatest possible being. Anselms argument in proslogion 2 was a reflection or prayer rather than a formal piece of. Complete philosophical and theological treatises of anselm. A statement is a priori one can see that it is true using pure reason and given an understanding of the meanings of the words in it. As clearly as possible, restate anselms ontological argument. This argument strikes many people as unconvincing, but. Written for his brother benedictine monks around 1077, anselms proslogion is perhaps the bestknown partiallyread book of the middle ages.
One ontological question discussed thus far has been whether platonic forms are real. The first half of anselmsproslogion iiicontains an argument that both malcolm and hartshorne focused on as providing the principal evidence for their claim that anselm propounded a version of the modal ontological argument. We dont need empirical evidence to know that its true. And cur deus homo, translated from the latin by sidney norton deane, b. Anselm s ontological argument for the existence of god. What everybody knows is wrong with the ontological argument but never quite says robert anderson saint anselm college peoples sense that one cannot argue for gods existence in the way anselms ontological argument attempts to do so can be shored up with the help of. Anselm wrote in reply his liber apologeticus contra gaunilonem book of defense against gaunilo, which was a repetition of the ontological argument of the proslogion. This volume includes the monologion, the proslogion, gaunilos reply to the ontological argument, and anselms reply to gaunilos reply.
Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god anselms argument is an a priori argument. Their versions of the argument are slightly different, but. Speaks january 10, 2006 gaunilo, a monk who was a contemporary of st. Anselm is known by the motto faith seeking understanding. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. This entry is a good place to start for clarification of the above notes to the argument. And indeed we believe you are something greater than which cannot be thought. Anselms ontological argument is certainly one of the most audacious arguments in the history of western philosophy. The proslogion is the source for anselms famous and highly controversial ontological arguments for the existence of god. Proslogion 5 and 18, and in reply to gaunilo 10, anselm omits. The first ontological argument in the western christian tradition 1 was proposed by anselm of canterbury in his 1078 work proslogion. The paper examines the way in which faith seeking understanding, the ontological argument, and the derivation of the divine. The relevance of kants objection to anselms ontological.
An ontological argument is an a priori demonstration of the existence of god. The latin text, collated by hopkins and published in the foregoing work, is not here reprinted. The first, and bestknown, ontological argument was proposed by st. Anselm of canterbury, also called anselm of aosta italian.
Saint anselm of canterbury archbishop and philosopher. Ontological arguments about the existence of god, based. The first ontological argument in the western christian tradition was proposed by anselm of canterbury in his 1078 work proslogion. With an introduction, bibliography, and reprints of the opinions of leading philosophers and writers on the ontological argument, chicago, the open court publishing company, 1903, reprinted 1926. Many readers are familiar only with anselms wellknown argument for gods existence in chapters 24, which is often called the ontological argument, a. Anselm 10331109 who was an archbishop of canterbury and abbot of bec. Anselms argument together with gaunilos, aquinas and kants objections are conveniently summarized by kenneth einar himma in the internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Anselme du bec after his monastery, was an italian benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of the catholic church, who held the office of archbishop of canterbury from 1093 to 1109. His proslogion address, or allocution, originally titled fides quaerens intellectum faith seeking understanding, established the ontological argument for the existence of god. Alvin plantinga challenged this argument and proposed an alternative, based on modal logic. And, as is well known, of all the versions of the ontological argument, it is anselm s argument for gods existence that stands out the most. This being than which no greater can be conceived either exists in. In this chapter we shall investigate whether such an argument is to be found there, perhaps implicitly. The paper argues that anselms project in the proslogion, is one that anselm himself views as both necessary and paradoxical.
Anselm then imagines a character, the fool, who denies that god exists. That god really exists therefore, lord, you who give knowledge of the faith, give me as much knowledge as you know to be fitting for me, because you are as we believe and that which we believe. We conceive of god as a being than which no greater can be conceived. Anselm presents a philosophical argument for the existence of god. Anselm begins with a stipulative definition of god as a being than which no greater being can be conceived.
But, if really, nay, since really, he both conceived, because he said in his. Proslogion is taken from a new, interpretive translation of st. Anselm 10331109 of canterbury was born in aosta, italy. Anselm claims to derive the existence of god from the concept of a being than which no greater can be conceived. Proslogion, with the replies of gaunilo and anselm pdf. Anselmo daosta after his death, he was canonized as a saint. The author writes in the person of one who contemplates god, and seeks to understand what he believes.
Speaks january 6, 2006 1 anselms presentation of the argument anselms argument begins with a statement of what god is. But, anselm notes, this fool must surely at least be able to understand. Anselm means when he writes there is only one way god can be. Saint anselm 10331109 proslogion translated by sidney norton deane preface after i had published, at the solicitous entreaties of certain brethren, a brief work the monologion as an example of meditation on the grounds of faith, in the person of one who.
Has anselm abandoned his original argument and replaced it without. Proslogion 1 there fore ends with anselm stating that his aim in what follows is to understand god from a position of faith. Get an answer for what is a summary of anselm and gaunilos argument. Matthews anselms ontological argument in proslogion 2 has been discussed and criticized so much that it is hard for us today to see its basic structure. The form of the argument is that of a reductio ad absurdum argument. The arguments he gives in the reply look rather different from the argument of the second chapter of proslogion, and gaunilos apparently most telling criticism seems to go entirely unanswered. Anselms first and most famous argument is found at the end of chapter 2 of the proslogion. Anselm stresses the importance of our rational nature as humans, encouraging christians that they should be always ready to convince anyone who demands of them a reason of that hope which is in us. Matthews and lynne rudder baker the ontological argument in anselms proslogion ii continues to generate a remarkable store of sophisticated commentary and criticism. Anselm defined god as a being than which no greater can be conceived, and which exists, and argued that this being must exist in the mind. In this brief work the author aims at proving in a single argument the existence of god, and whatsoever we believe of god. Anselm but how has the fool said in his heart what he could not conceive.
This volume includes the proslogion, gaunilos reply to the ontological argument, and anselms reply to gaunilos reply. The argument begins with the assertion that god is something than which nothing greater can be thought. Saint anselm of canterbury 10331109 was a medieval philosopher, theologian, prior of bec, and archbishop of canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Cast aside, now, thy burdensome cares, and put away thy toilsome business. This online translation of the proslogion is taken from a new, interpretive translation of st. The word ontological comes from ontology, the study of ology of what exists or being ont.
Anselm defined god as a being than which no greater can be conceived, and which exists 2, and argued that this being must exist in the mind, even in the mind of the person who denies the existence of god. I will begin by giving some context to the proslogion, and will offer a brief analysis of the ontological argument in anselm and descartes formulation. The ontological argument st anselm and descartes both famously presented an ontological argument for the existence of god. He is best known for the celebrated ontological argument for the existence of god in the proslogion, but his contributions to philosophical theology and indeed to philosophy more generally go well beyond the ontological argument. Anselm is most famous for originating what is known as the ontological proof of gods existence. This volume includes the proslogion, gaunilos reply to the ontological argument, and anselm s reply to gaunilos reply. Introduction to the monologion and proslogion philosophers have long been so intrigued with anselms celebrated ontological argumentand understandably sothat it has been all too easy for them to ignore the rest of the monologion and proslogion. In it he claimed that even a fool has an idea of a being greater than which no other being can be conceived to. In chapters 2 through 4 of the proslogion, anselm submits his ontological argument as a rational proof for the existence of god.
Anselmo daosta after his birthplace and anselm of bec french. The structure of the ontological argument can be outlined as follows the argument is based on anselms proslogion 2. The origins of the ontological argument are usually seen in the writings of st anselm of canterbury. Anselm doesnt tell us what he means for us to make of this exchange. Mattey spring, 2017 philosophy 1 ontology much of metaphysics concerns ontology, theories about what is real and what is not real. Now we believe that you are are something than which nothing greater can be thought. About the work although anselm s argument for gods existence presented in this article is based on predominately on reason, anselm presents the argument as clari. However, in our opinion, much of this literature ignores or misrepresents the elegant simplicity of the original argument. Anselms proof, known since the time of kant as the ontological argument for the existence of god, has played an important role in the history of philosophy and has been incorporated in various forms into the systems of descartes, leibniz, hegel, and others.
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