Chapter 11.

A
Anselm and Aquinas
Existence and Essence in God and the World

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Medieval Philosophy
• Augustine and his writings were influential in
philosophy and theology
• E.g., Peter Lombards’ Book of Sentences (1150 A.D.)
• 90% from Augustine’s writings

• After the fall of Rome

• Intellectual work in the West
was carried on largely within
the Church
• Preserved libraries, copied
manuscripts, wrote books

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 Later medieval philosophy
1000 – 1400 B.C.

• Anselm of • Thomas Aquinas

Canterbury (1225 – 1274 A.D.)
(1033 – 1109 A.D.)

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 • List five characteristics of
“Perfecto!”
Imagine the perfect partner!

• Share your list with three

other students.

• Combine lists; write the top

three characteristics.

• Name your perfect person.

Perfecto
• Imagine meeting this person
this weekend!

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Meeting Perfecto!

Thinking. . . Actuality (being)

• This weekend we
will . . .

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The Ontological Argument for God

• Ontological = having to do with the science of being.

• “And so, Lord, do thou, who dost give understanding to faith,

give me, so far as thou knowest to be profitable, to understand
that thou art as we believe; and that thou art that which we
believe. And indeed, we believe that thou art a being than
which nothing greater can be conceived. . .”

• Anselm says that the idea of God is “that, than which no

greater can be conceived.” (NGC)

• This expression “pushes us out beyond everything familiar by

forcing us to ask again and again, Can something greater than
this be conceived?” (Melchert, p. 260).

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 Anselm’s Ontological Argument
1. I have, within my understanding, an idea of God.
2. This idea of God is the idea of the greatest possible being.
3. A being is greater if it exists in reality than if it exists only in
the understanding.
4. If God exists in the understanding alone, then a greater being
can be conceived, namely, one that also exists in reality.
5. But premise 4 is a contradiction, for it says I can conceive of a
greater being than the greatest conceivable being.
6. So if I have an idea of the greatest conceivable being, such a
being must exist both in my understanding and in reality.
7. Therefore, God exists in reality. (Lawhead, p. 347)

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Thomas Aquinas
KIDNAPPED!

Brothers bring prostitute.

Mother has sons kidnap Thomas.
Sisters “Enough!”
Escapes w. Dominicans.

Thomas incarcerated at family castle;

refuses to give up habit.
Reads/memorizes Bible in entirety.
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“The Dumb Ox”
• Released from his prison, Thomas went to Cologne,
Germany where he studied with Albert the Great
• Albert knew the works of Aristotle
• About the rotund, deliberate, unusually quiet and calm
Thomas, Albert said “This dumb ox will fill the whole
world with his bellowing.”
• Aquinas was ordained a priest and became a Master in
Theology
• Participated in “disputations”
• A question was announced for discussion
• Conflicting opinions were stated, citing some
authority
• Arguments were heard for and against the opinions
• The Professor would end by rendering a judgment

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 References

William F. Lawhead. The Philosophical Journey: An

Interactive Approach, 5th ed. (Boston: McGraw Hill, 2012).

Melchert, N. (2014). The Great Conversation: A Historical

Introduction to Philosophy, 7th ed. (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2014).

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