Topoi 35 (2):613-616 (
2016)
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Abstract
Up to this point, Anselm has been known for two quite different kinds of work: his devotional writings, which aim to move and inspire the reader and are marked by an ornate style that relies heavily on alliteration and antitheses and suchlike ornaments, and his Monologion, a work of what has come to be known as analytic theology, written in straightforward, unadorned, philosophical prose that aspires only to clarity and precision. In his new work, Proslogion, Anselm attempts to combine the two styles and the two aspirations. The experiment is not a success.Anselm’s preface states a perfectly straightforward agenda: the new work will reach all, or at least a good many, of the conclusions already defended in the Monologion, but by means of a “single argument” as opposed to the “chaining together of many arguments” found in the earlier work. So one is surprised to turn to the first chapter and find, not an argument, but something called “A rousing of the mind to the contemplation of God.” ..