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Philosopher

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Anselm of Canterbury

1033–1109 · Scholasticism · Medieval

Anselm of Canterbury, born in Aosta in 1033, was a Benedictine monk at Bec who became archbishop of Canterbury and died in 1109. He described his project as faith seeking understanding. The Proslogion, written in the late 1070s, is a prayer that contains the argument later called ontological: God is that than which nothing greater can be thought, and such a being cannot exist in the understanding alone.

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A fellow monk, Gaunilo, answered almost at once with the perfect island. Anselm replied. The Monologion had already offered a different, more Augustinian route. He also wrote on truth, freedom, and the incarnation, especially Why God Became Man, which reshaped Latin thinking about atonement. He is not a logic machine who happened to pray. The argument is offered from inside the belief it examines.

He is also not immune to criticism because the book is a prayer. Aquinas and Kant will reject versions of the argument for different reasons. The Latin is secure. The English is translation.

Four sourced passages from the Proslogion are included. Further familiar lines are omitted where the wording or locus is not secure. The claim in chapter 15, that God is greater than can be thought, is real Latin, and a free English of it would only dress chapter 2 up again.

Start here

Proslogion, chapters 1 to 4, with Gaunilo's reply

Chapter 1 states the order of faith and understanding. Chapters 2 and 3 do the argument. Gaunilo shows the objection that has never gone away.

Quotations

“I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order that I may understand.”

Anselm of Canterbury · Scholasticism

knowledgemeaning
Paraphrase or translation
Meaning & application

Key ideas

  • Faith seeking understanding

    He does not seek to understand in order to believe, but believes in order to understand.

  • The formula

    God is addressed as something than which nothing greater can be thought, and that formula is asked to yield existence.

  • The fool's understanding

    Even the person who denies God understands the phrase, so the idea is in the intellect before the existence claim is pressed.

Major works

  • Proslogion (1077–1078)

    The prayer that contains the ontological argument, plus Gaunilo's reply and Anselm's answer.

  • Monologion (1076)

    An earlier meditation on the supreme good, less famous and less dependent on a single formula.

  • Why God Became Man (1090s)

    His account of the incarnation and satisfaction, hugely influential and separate from the Proslogion.

Influences

Influenced

Common misreadings

  • The argument is a logic puzzle detached from the prayer that states it.
  • Calling the critic a fool is the refutation, rather than a step about what is understood.

Famous lines Anselm of Canterbury never said

None of the lines this library files for Anselm of Canterbury is marked Questionable or Misattributed. That is only a fact about these cards. It is not a certificate that every popular sentence is theirs.

FAQ

What is the best book to start with?

Proslogion, chapters 1 to 4, with Gaunilo's reply Chapter 1 states the order of faith and understanding. Chapters 2 and 3 do the argument. Gaunilo shows the objection that has never gone away.

What is the most famous quote?

This library does not measure fame, and it does not rank lines by how often they are shared. The first line it files for Anselm of Canterbury that is not marked Questionable or Misattributed is “God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived.” (Proslogion, chapter 2, Paraphrase or translation).

What is the most misquoted line?

None of the lines this library files for Anselm of Canterbury is marked Misattributed or Questionable. That is a fact about these cards, not a certificate that every popular sentence is theirs.

What is one key idea, in a sentence?

Faith seeking understanding: He does not seek to understand in order to believe, but believes in order to understand.