The First Chapter Of Anselm s Argument - 961 Words

The first chapter of Anselm s Monologian focuses on Anselm s argument that there is something that is the best, the greatest, the highest, of all existing things. It is through this unknown something that all things possess their goodness. According to the argument he puts forth, the goodness of things in this world must be caused and must therefore stem from one thing that is good, or from many. If goods can be comparable as goods, it follows that there must be some general and unified way of regarding their goodness, or the source of their goodness. However, if many causes have their goodness in common, it is through this goodness that they cause good things. Ergo, there must be a common source. In either case, whether the cause is one or many, a single, unitary source of goodness is indicated. Anselm argues that this source of all goodness is not good because of something else, but is itself goodness. The proofs for Anselm s argument are as follows: Whenever various things are sa id to be good in greater, lesser, or equal degree, either a) different goods are good through different things, or b) there is some one thing through which they are all good. Anselm s argument supports option b. He purports that there are infinite goods, which can be experienced by the senses and identified through reason. Hence, there is some one thing through which all goods are good, and that through which all goods are good is a great good. Furthermore, that through which allShow MoreRelatedEssay about Anselms Ontological Argument680 Words   |  3 Pages As a theologian and philosopher, Saint Anselm strove to prove the existence of God in reality. The bulk of his argument is found in Chapter II of Proslogium. Anselm begins by defining God as amp;#8220;a being than which nothing greater can be conceived;. He continues by stating that amp;#8220;even a fool; has the capacity to understand this definition of God and that whatever is understood exists in the understanding. Anselm now draws his first intermediate inference based on these initialRead MoreFaith Seeking Understanding1021 Words   |  5 PagesFaith Seeking Understanding - St. Anselm The most striking theme in Anselms Proslogion, or faith seeking understanding, is the idea that in order to prove Gods existence one must first have faith in Him, and only then will one be able to truly understand and appreciate Gods existence. Anselm argues for this eloquently, I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. 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Anselm then suggests thatRead MoreThe Arguments For The Existence Of God1056 Words   |  5 PagesAmie Kamara Professor Davidson Theology 16 November 2015 Rough Draft for The arguments for the Existence of God. The question Does God Exist? is a well-known asked question in the world. Most people believe they know the answer to it. The religious people would say, well of course he does, while the non-religious people or atheist would say no He does not exist. Because evil exist and chaos exists, God cannot be all-powerful. In the modern world, there are many different opinions as to whetherRead MoreThe Argument Of The Existence Of God1480 Words   |  6 PagesThe arguments trying to â€Å"prove† the existence of God are by far some of the most controversial philosophical arguments out there. When some of the people who created these philosophies it was illegal or even punishable by death to even question his existence, let alone try to come up with a logical explanation to â€Å"prove† he is real. The two main arguments used today are the ontological argument and the cosmological argument. Neither one of these arguments are correct nor incorrect; moreover, theRead MoreAnselm And Aquinas On How God Exists1277 Words   |  6 Pagesbegin with, while reading Anselm and Aquinas’ views on how God exists, these important philosophers spent much of their time looking and searching for the idea that God actually exists. Therefore, of course there would be some mishaps along the way and people would try to argue against their idea of God’s existence. In this paper will be explained the proof of God and of course some objections against them that will make you wonder. With Anselm s ontological argument and Aquinas’ ways, we can useRead MoreThe s Ontological Argument : What Does The Only Way God?1975 Words   |  8 Pagesrepresentative for much more. God s impact on individual’s lives is something that he will forever hold upon the human race. God s necessity in our lives is hugely relevant in our society today. With a large amount of evil occurring in our world today, God is that one thing that helps us keep at peace and helps us sta y strong. St. Anselm was an Italian monk and an avid philosopher who looked up to the views of Boethius in which he cities many references in his work. Although Anselm had many different viewpointsRead MoreGod, The Son And The Holy Spirit1726 Words   |  7 Pagesin each two, or each two in each. Therefore all are in all.† How the Trinity Became Doctrine The Trinity is not a Christian Idea One of the forerunners in the development of the doctrine of the Trinity was Turtullian. Turtullian was the â€Å"first to use the word trinitas in a technical way to describe the relation of God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.† Sometime in the fourth century, an idea came to the forefront was that there was a trinity of gods. This idea was not conceived by