Abstract

The final chapter of this work reveals that Anselm distinguished two types of thinking. The first type of thinking yields a notion of truth as the noetic grasp of finite existing begins, and as such it is a notion of truth unsuited for the truth of Anselm's argument. The second type of thinking grasps the indeterminacy of finite beings and therein understands truth to reside in the anxious task of transforming these finite beings. Finally, it is claimed that Anselm intends the Proslogion argument to elicit a creative response, to move the reader to undertake the activity of transforming an infinite continuum of finite beings without significance into a community of individuals infinitely rich in value and significance. ;Through an analysis of Proslogion III and Charles Hartshorne's work concerning the relation between creator and creature, a relation introduced by Anselm in Proslogion III, it is established that if the proof for God's existence is assumed to prove only if it results in a necessary affirmation of the truth of the reality of a certain state of affairs, then the proof fails. However, Proslogion IV indicates that Anselm did not intend the Proslogion argument to be understood in this way. ;In the Preface to the Proslogion Anselm states that it is his intention to construct a single argument to prove the existence of God. The concern of this statement is reflected by the emphasis in this work on the utility of the Proslogion argument. Hence, the thesis that Anselm constructed two separate arguments in Proslogion II and III is rejected, and an interpretation is proposed by which Proslogion Chapters I through IV are understood to unfold a single argument for the existence of God, an argument which ultimately transforms the notion of philosophical argumentation itself. ;Of particular importance to this interpretation is the role of Proslogion I. Ironically, Proslogion I has been dismissed as a gratuitous part of the Proslogion argument because of its great eloquence. However, this work demonstrates that in the powerful metaphors and analogies of the first chapter of the Proslogion Anselm identifies the origin of the Proslogion argument as the ultimate concern of being for significance. This origin greatly influences that which can be understood as the realized or intended goal of the argument or proof. ;This work is an examination of the first four chapters of Anselm's Proslogion. These chapters mark the birthplace of that argument which since Kant has been known as the ontological argument or proof for the existence of God. The purpose of this work is to reveal a dimension of the argument which has been ignored through centuries of comment and criticism