Abstract

Contributions to the field of Anselm studies have continued steadily since the 1930s, when Karl Barth's little book Fides Quaerens Intellectum gave new life to those for whom a metaphysical context for Anselm's work was never quite adequate. Since then, despite the growth of Anselm research, the media of interpretation remain largely confined to four basic areas--the metaphysical, the theological, the mystical, and the 20th century logical. This dissertation offers a fifth context for looking at Anselm's early work, that of a specifically Boethian dialectic which includes formal aspects of both term logic syllogistic and propositional logic. ;After an introductory chapter dealing with the various meanings of 'logic' and 'dialectic', and with the arts in the 11th century, Chapter 2 undertakes a historical study from which a case is made for the early presence at Bec of a Boethian logic. Chapter 3 begins a formal analysis of Proslogion II according to the forms of propositional logic found in the Boethian monograph De Syllogismo Hypothetico. A second analysis of the same material follows according to a different logic presented in the Boethian Commentary on Cicero's Topics. Chapter 4 deals with an account of Boethius's amalgamation of logic and rhetoric, while building a case for the nature and function of Anselm's unum argumentum, "God is that than which a greater cannot be thought". Chapter 5 opens with an application of both term logic and propositional logic to the argument of Proslogion XV; it then addresses an unavoidable metaphysical issue about how to express and maintain the difference between divine Being and beings in the world. ;The advantage of using a dialectical context is that it provides a more stringent focus on Anselm's primary concern, which is to present the Christian faith in universally acceptable arguments. Secondly, it can examine these arguments according to the logical forms of Anselm's day. Thirdly, it produces a formal recapitulation of the ontological argument in Proslogion II with an economy matching Anselm's own. Finally, the dialectical context exhibits Anselm's actual strategy for maintaining his commitment to the principles of reason amidst the priority of faith