Anselme de Cantorbéry
God is 'that than which nothing greater can be conceived': so he cannot exist in thought alone.
Life
A monk born in Aosta, abbot of Bec and then Archbishop of Canterbury (1093), he is one of the founders of scholastic theology. He is famous for his so-called 'ontological' argument for the existence of God and for the idea of faith seeking understanding.
Main works
Derives God's existence from the idea of a being than which nothing greater can be thought.
Seeks God's nature and existence by reason alone.
Explains why God had to become man.
In his own words
« For I do not seek to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to understand. »
Neque enim quaero intelligere, ut credam; sed credo, ut intelligam.
« And indeed we believe that you are something than which nothing greater can be thought. »
Et quidem credimus te esse aliquid, quo nihil majus cogitari possit.
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceArgues that God, that than which nothing greater can be conceived, necessarily exists.
Anselm, Proslogion (1078)
His proof of God works from the mere concept, by reasoning alone, without any appeal to experience.
Anselm, Proslogion (1078)
Good and justice are real: they are a rightness of the will that has its source in God.
Anselm, De veritate (c. 1080)
Faith comes first and seeks understanding: he believes in order to understand, not the reverse.
Anselm, Proslogion, ch. 1 (1078)