Abstract

St. Anselm of Canterbury is well known for his "ontological" argument, but his importance as a thinker does not begin and end with the first few pages of the Proslogion. Underlying his work is a consistent metaphysics and epistemology. ;Recently some scholars, notably F. S. Schmitt, the editor of Anselm's Opera Omnia, have argued that Anselm breaks with his Platonic predecessor Augustine to foreshadow the more Aristotelian Aquinas. In looking at the Divine Ideas and their relationship to God, to creation and to human ideas, I argue that Anselm did not abandon Augustine's form of Platonism. ;Anselm believes that there are Divine Ideas of absolute qualities , of genera and species, and even of individuals. These Ideas are one in the Word, the Second Person of the Trinity. ;Anselm accepts the doctrine of participation. Creation is a reflection of God, and God is really in creation. Schmitt argues that Anselm sees God as only an efficient cause in the Thomistic sense, but his arguments fail. On the problem of universals, Anselm is an "extreme" realist, but this does not mean what most historians of medieval philosophy take it to mean. As to individuation, Anselm holds that individuals in a species are distinguished by their peculiar properties. Like Augustine, Anselm believes that there are seminal reasons, however he is not interested in the role the angels play in creation. ;Anselm believes that all knowledge comes through divine illumination. Some scholars attempt to fit Anselm into the Thomistic mold, even to the extent of claiming that Anselm accepts a doctrine of abstraction. The evidence is all to the contrary, however. Through his epistemology Anselm shows himself to be a monist. Ontologically the universe is a continuum. Creation is a reflection of God's Ideas and human ideas are a reflection of creation. This enables Anselm to see God as the guarantor of human knowledge. ;Anselm's metaphysics and epistemology are quite different from those of most contemporary philosophers, and hence should be studied to gain perspective. Moreover, they are intrinsically interesting and even compelling