Anselm: Life and Main Philosophical Ideas

Biographical Background

Anselm lived from 1033 to 1109. He was a monk, theologian, philosopher, and eventually Archbishop of Canterbury. Born in Aosta, he entered the monastery of Bec in Normandy and became one of the most important thinkers of early scholasticism.

His motto is often summarized as "faith seeking understanding." For Anselm, faith does not eliminate reason. Rather, faith opens the path for reason to understand more deeply what it already believes. His main works include Monologion, Proslogion, and Cur Deus Homo.

Philosophical Thought

Anselm is best known for the ontological argument for God's existence. God is defined as "that than which nothing greater can be thought." Even the person who denies God can understand this concept. But if the greatest conceivable being existed only in the mind and not in reality, then a greater being could be conceived: one existing both in the mind and in reality. Therefore, God must exist.

The argument is remarkable because it does not begin with experience of the world. It tries to derive existence from the concept of God itself. It has been intensely debated. Gaunilo objected with the example of a perfect island. Aquinas rejected it as a proof available to all. Descartes and Leibniz revised it, while Kant famously criticized the idea that existence is a predicate.

In Cur Deus Homo, Anselm develops a satisfaction theory of atonement. Human sin dishonors God, and finite human beings cannot adequately restore what is owed. God can restore it, but humanity must make satisfaction. Therefore, the mediator must be both God and human: Christ.

Anselm also treats freedom as the ability to preserve rectitude of will for its own sake. Freedom is not mere arbitrary choice; it is ordered toward justice.

Anselm's importance lies in the disciplined use of reason within faith. He helped define the scholastic ideal: rigorous argument, conceptual clarity, and theological seriousness.