Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the connection, in Anselm of Canterbury, between theological issues, monastic culture and linguistic analysis. The reasoning is based on chapter thirteen of De veritate and develops the idea of truth without significatio that arises from those pages. Generally credited to the logical aspects of the Anselmian thought, the theory really needs to be understood in the light of the concepts of listening, silence, human and divine word, inside a tradition that traces its origins to Paul of Tarsus, Augustine and the Regula of Benedikt of Norcia. The analysis will show how the silence must be intended as a crucial notion in the Anselmian theory of truth. In this context, the meaning of silence is threefold: language of God, soundless language of the things and, finally, mental place where true propositions can be thought.