StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Anselm of Canterbury - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Anselm’s Ontological Argument in the “Proslogion,” attempting to prove the existence of God, hinges on his definition of God as “something than which nothing greater can be thought of” (Anselm, 359). This definition of God as the ‘greatest’ mandates a conception…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.4% of users find it useful
Anselm of Canterbury
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Anselm of Canterbury"

Anselm of Canterbury: The Ontological Argument and the Perfect God. Anselm’s Ontological Argument in the “Proslogion,” attempting to prove the existence of God, hinges on his definition of God as “something than which nothing greater can be thought of” (Anselm, 359). This definition of God as the ‘greatest’ mandates a conception of God as Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent: the Perfect God. Anselm conceives of God as perfect; if this conception is rejected, Anselm’s argument falls apart.

Anselm’s argument is founded on the assumption that God exists. He makes this assumption on the basis of the argument that God’s non-existence is impossible. God “cannot be even thought of as not existing” (Anselm, 360). Having made the existence of God a given, Anselm defines God as the greatest thing that can be thought of. God is superlative, because the human mind, created by God, cannot conceive of anything greater than its creator, who exists eternally throughout the ages. The rest of his argument proceeds from this definition.

If the perfection of God is not accepted, Anselm’s argument does not hold. God exists in understanding, because the concept of God as “something than which nothing greater than be thought of” can be understood. Something which exists in reality is greater than something which exists only in understanding. If God exists only in understanding, he cannot be the greatest. Since Anselm has established that God is the greatest, and nothing can be greater than God, if follows that God must exist in reality.

Therefore, Anselm’s conception of God as the greatest, as Perfect, is the very foundation of his argument for God’s existence. If Anselm’s belief in the ‘Perfect God’ is discarded, his ‘proof’ of God’s existence must be discarded along with it. Works Cited.Anselm of Canterbury. “Proslogion.” Ed. George Cronk. 1996. 359-360. Print.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Anselm of Canterbury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words”, n.d.)
Anselm of Canterbury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1602891-anselm-of-canterbury
(Anselm of Canterbury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 Words)
Anselm of Canterbury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 Words. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1602891-anselm-of-canterbury.
“Anselm of Canterbury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1602891-anselm-of-canterbury.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Anselm of Canterbury

Gaunilo's argument from Anselm's point of view

Anselm of Canterbury.... Gaunilo, a fellow monk and believer sought to oppose anselm's argument, saying it would force people to conclude existence of other non- existent things.... His critic is usually described by philosophers as an overload idea, because he does not show how anselm's ideas are wrong but rather how it unsound in all applications, if it is unsound in one.... Gaunilo argues that “god” in the argument placed by anselm can be replaced by anything, in his case, “the perfect island....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Anselm's Cosmological Argument

This essay stresses that the 11th century English philosopher Anselm of Canterbury attempted to prove the existence of God through the idea of causation.... By proving that there is only one being that caused the existence of all things including itself, anselm arrives at the idea.... hellip; According to the study, anselm's Cosmological Argument, anselm's cosmological argument begins with the conclusion, followed by the proof which states that everything has a cause, that all things are caused by only one thing, that this one thing also caused its own existence, and that this one thing is the highest of all existing things....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Anslem, Meditation on Human Redemption

Completephilosophical and theological treaties of Anselm of Canterbury.... He seeks the salvation of human soul citing to its reasons, which he believes are enough to make the human soul turn back to the lord and seek redemption.... He cites examples such as how the good Samaritan being a helpful friend redeemed the soul and… He talks about how Christ suffered and was crucified with thieves just to earn the redemption of souls crucified with demons....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Anselm's Proslogion, Chapter II--The Ontological Proof of God

There are several variations of the argument proposed by various philosophers and theologians – but the purpose of this thesis is to analyze… Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109), which he had put forth in second chapter of his book, Proslogion. The purpose of Anselm's ontological argument seems to be to point out the supposed logical error However, to maintain the position, the atheist would have to add another attribute, that of “existing in reality,” to supposedly make it the “greatest possible being”....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Incarnation-Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

In his great work Cur Deus Homo (why God became man), Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109 AD) raises the question why God became man (Kereszty, 272).... Jesus is the second person of the Trinity and he became human or flesh by being conceived in the Mary's womb.... Mary in this case is thus referred to as the Theotokos or… The meaning and fundamentals of the trinity were thus taught through the understanding of the New Testament by the orthodox Christians, those who mainly adhere to the council of Chalcedon....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

The nature of Ontological arguments for Gods existence

From the essay "The nature of Ontological arguments for God's existence" it is clear the genesis of ontological arguments stems from the works of Anselm of Canterbury entirely from his work Prosigion.... Today many arguments fall into the category of ontology all borrowing from the priori theory....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Saint Anselm's Ontological Argument

The paper "Saint anselm's Ontological Argument" discusses that the logical assumptions that anselm makes are plausible enough to make the fool willing to grant them.... hellip; I am in agreement with what anselm says, and his arguments on the existence of God.... Part of my agreement with anselm's argument is his elaborate use of inductive logic.... anselm's main aim is to address the two important features in the argument of the fool (the one denies God's existence)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Lamb of God

A paper "The Lamb of God" reports that one can not help noticing that the concept of religion has been playing a significant role in it since the early centuries.... Indeed, the development of humanity at any given point in history was strongly influenced by a certain religious system.... hellip; What is even more important is that the emergence of a spiritual teaching has often been seen as a center of the frame of reference for many nations....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us