Abstract

What reader of Anselm has not wondered about the relation of faith and reason? Does the ontological argument succeed as a proof of God's existence cogent to an unbeliever, or should it be taken as a believer's quest to learn more about the object of belief? Bencivenga examines Anselm's life and correspondence as well as his more strictly philosophical works with a hermeneutics suspicious of logic. His postmodern tactics are annoying--intentionally, I suppose--but useful in provoking the reader to remember the limits as well as the conquests of the logic Anselm held so dear. The author's concern is not just the right interpretation of the famous ontological argument in the Proslogion but the discernment of the results of Anselm's constant recourse to logic for reasons independent of revelation whenever possible.