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Proslogion, with the Replies of Gaunilo and Anselm
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 universities, yet this critical, original treatise outlining the OA is often misunderstood by readers. Here in the Briefly text, the author guides the reader through Anselm's argument concerning existence and whether it is an attribute of God in the same way omnipotence, omniscience and benevolence are believed to be. As such the argument is an a priori argument. It does not rest on proving God's existence from the empirical realm but on showing that God must exist logically (or that God's non-existence is illogical).The main idea behind Anselm's argument is that epistemology (what we know) IS ontology (what there is); or, that if it is possible to conceive of X, then X must surely exist. For further information on the series and the opportunity to take part in an open forum with the author please go to our new brieflys website at "">www.scmbrieflys.co.uk
96 pages, Paperback
Published May 26, 2006
5 people want to read
About the author
David Mills Daniel
53 books9 followersHi there.
I am David Mills Daniel, author of the 'Briefly' series.
Over the past few years, a major focus of my life has been developing and writing my 'Briefly' series of guide yo key texts in philosophy, phiosophy of religion, religious studies and ethics. 21 classic texts guides have now been published.
A major aim of the series is to enable school and university/college students to acquire knowledge and understanding of the texts and of the thinking of the philosophers who wrote them. The series is also designed to make the texts, and philosophical ideas generally, more accessible to those who would like to know more about the subject, and to encourage people to discover for hemselves what philosophy has to offer.
One of my greatest pleasures in life is discussing philosophy with those who do not think it has much to offer them. A lot of people believe that philosophy is remote from everyday life, belongs in the study or lecture room, and is for those who are able to devote their lives to thinking, rather than doing.
Well, yes. Philosophy is thinking about things, but that includes all the issues which matter to everyone: the nature of the world we inhabit; our responsibilities to others; how we should live our livves; the sort of priorities we should have; what sort of society we want; our relationships; the values we should hand on to our children; and so on.
So, philosophy is not just a subject for university professors. Indeed, many of the great philosophers, like John Locke, David Hume and John Stuart Mill, were active in the wider world, and earned their living frtom jobs which has nothing to do with philosophy or teaching it. But, all of them thought and wrote about the big issues of life. And, a great deal of what they have to say is stimulating and challenging; some of it is controversial. Furthermore, it is relevant to our lives today.
Through studying philosophy, we can bring the thinking of the geat philosophers to bear on the challenges, issues and questions we face today, as human beings, citizens, members of society and individuals with relationships, responsibilities, conncerns and uncertainties. We can learn from them, and their thoughts and ideas can help us to answrr some of the questions we face. At least, they can help us to understand the questions more clearly.
My 'SCM AS/A2 Ethics and Moral Philosophy', which supports the teaching of AS-level philosophy and religious studies, but which will also be of interest to general leaders who want an easy-to-follow guide to these fascinating and important areas of
philosophy, was published in 2009.
I am David Mills Daniel, author of the 'Briefly' series.
Over the past few years, a major focus of my life has been developing and writing my 'Briefly' series of guide yo key texts in philosophy, phiosophy of religion, religious studies and ethics. 21 classic texts guides have now been published.
A major aim of the series is to enable school and university/college students to acquire knowledge and understanding of the texts and of the thinking of the philosophers who wrote them. The series is also designed to make the texts, and philosophical ideas generally, more accessible to those who would like to know more about the subject, and to encourage people to discover for hemselves what philosophy has to offer.
One of my greatest pleasures in life is discussing philosophy with those who do not think it has much to offer them. A lot of people believe that philosophy is remote from everyday life, belongs in the study or lecture room, and is for those who are able to devote their lives to thinking, rather than doing.
Well, yes. Philosophy is thinking about things, but that includes all the issues which matter to everyone: the nature of the world we inhabit; our responsibilities to others; how we should live our livves; the sort of priorities we should have; what sort of society we want; our relationships; the values we should hand on to our children; and so on.
So, philosophy is not just a subject for university professors. Indeed, many of the great philosophers, like John Locke, David Hume and John Stuart Mill, were active in the wider world, and earned their living frtom jobs which has nothing to do with philosophy or teaching it. But, all of them thought and wrote about the big issues of life. And, a great deal of what they have to say is stimulating and challenging; some of it is controversial. Furthermore, it is relevant to our lives today.
Through studying philosophy, we can bring the thinking of the geat philosophers to bear on the challenges, issues and questions we face today, as human beings, citizens, members of society and individuals with relationships, responsibilities, conncerns and uncertainties. We can learn from them, and their thoughts and ideas can help us to answrr some of the questions we face. At least, they can help us to understand the questions more clearly.
My 'SCM AS/A2 Ethics and Moral Philosophy', which supports the teaching of AS-level philosophy and religious studies, but which will also be of interest to general leaders who want an easy-to-follow guide to these fascinating and important areas of
philosophy, was published in 2009.
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April 16, 2023
The Proslogion is a good tract from Anselm but it is probably not the best as an introduction into philosophy. The argument I believe is sound logically, but it is difficult to grasp from the way he presents it. The tract is more than just the heady "ontological" argument, and I enjoyed every bit of it that wasn't explaining his "greater-than-which-nothing-can-be-thought", especially where he builds on the idea of recognizing that the goods we enjoy is incomparable to the Good that contains all goods. That's a bad paraphrase, so i recommend grinding through this book and discovering the great truths expressed therein.
Displaying 1 of 1 review