“God is that than which nothing greater can be thought.”
— Anselm of Canterbury[verifiable: Proslogion, chapter 2; translated by Davies and Evans (1998)]
Commentary
This definition introduces the ontological argument of the Proslogion, which proposes that the concept of the greatest conceivable being already includes its existence. The argument is brief but has generated more philosophical discussion than almost any other text of the medieval period. Jasper Hopkins, in his companion volume (1972), examines the logic of the argument and the status of the concept it relies upon. Brian Davies and Gillian Evans's translation (1998) renders the definition with care, and their notes show how Anselm's language draws on the Augustinian tradition of divine simplicity. R. W. Southern places the argument within Anselm's wider project of rational theology. Gaunilo of Marmoutier's critique, which Anselm answered in the Reply, is an essential context for reading the sentence, since it tests whether the definition can bear the weight placed on it.
Commentary
This definition introduces the ontological argument of the Proslogion, which proposes that the concept of the greatest conceivable being already includes its existence. The argument is brief but has generated more philosophical discussion than almost any other text of the medieval period. Jasper Hopkins, in his companion volume (1972), examines the logic of the argument and the status of the concept it relies upon. Brian Davies and Gillian Evans's translation (1998) renders the definition with care, and their notes show how Anselm's language draws on the Augustinian tradition of divine simplicity. R. W. Southern places the argument within Anselm's wider project of rational theology. Gaunilo of Marmoutier's critique, which Anselm answered in the Reply, is an essential context for reading the sentence, since it tests whether the definition can bear the weight placed on it.