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Proslogion

Prayer by Saint Anselm of Canterbury

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Through Middle Ages and Philosophy

Lab · Class 11Nomadic Medieval

The original title for this discourse was to be Faith Seeking Understanding.

Ontological arguments

The Proslogion marked what would be the beginning of Saint Anselm's famous and highly controversial ontological arguments for the existence of God. Anselm's first and most famous argument is found at the end of Chapter II, and it is followed by his second argument. Opinions concerning Anselm's twin ontological arguments widely differ, and have differed since the Proslogion was first conceived.

First argument

There are various reconstructions of Anselm's first argument. Scott H. Moore's analysis is as follows:

  • Proposition 1: God is a being than which none greater can be conceived.
  • Proposition 2: If existence in reality is greater than existence in the mind alone, an imagined being who exists only in our mind is not a "being than which none greater can be conceived." A being than which none greater can be conceived must also exist in reality, where failure to do so would be a failure to be such.
  • Conclusion: Thus a being than which none greater can be conceived must exist, and we call this being God.
  • Because it is greater to exist in reality than in the mind only, the being that nothing greater than can be thought of will exist both in the mind and in reality.

Second argument

Donald Viney renders Anselm's second argument as follows:

  1. "God" means "that than which nothing greater can be conceived."
  2. The idea of God is not contradictory.
  3. That which can be thought of as not existing (a contingent being) is not as great as that which cannot be thought of as not existing (a necessary being).
  4. Therefore, to think of God as possibly not existing (as contingent) is not to think of the greatest conceivable being. It is a contradiction to think of the greatest conceivable being as nonexistent.
  5. Therefore, God exists.

Formal Reconstruction in a set theoretic form (by Gyorgy Gereby)

Source:

Vocabulary for the argument in a set logical form

  • R – not empty set of mind-independent real things
  • S – not empty set of (individual) people
  • P – set of sentences or propositions
  • I – set of mental contents (represent the meaning of sentences of P)
  • T = S XP --> I – is the function of “thinking of”, which assigns to sentences uttered by persons an intelligible element i of I
  • C = I --> R correspondence-function, which assigns to certain elements of I certain elements of R
  • V = { i | i ∈ I, ∃ r. r ∈ R, r = C (i)} – Set of mental things that have a counterpart in R
  • U = I \ V – set of things that do not have a counterpart in R
  • b ∈ S – individual name of the fool
  • g – individual name for god

The Argument of Anselm

Supplement

Anselm writes in Chapter XI that "you [God] are not only that than which a greater cannot be conceived, but you are a being greater than can be conceived."

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