Medieval Philosophy

by Peter S. Adamson

Here Anselm is raising the question we just discussed in Chapter 6, as to whether there is anything that God cannot do. His answer is yes: God cannot will evil.7 He can only will one thing, namely the good. But this does not make Him any less free. In fact, God’s inability to choose anything but goodness makes him more free than a creature who can choose between good and evil (§1). This may sound perplexing, but it is easier to understand in light of Anselm’s earlier definition of the will. Remember that the will is not just a power to choose, but has a purpose.8 This purpose is, as Anselm puts it, to “preserve rectitude for its own sake,” and freedom is nothing more nor less than the ability to do this. In other words, the reason we have a will is so that we