Journal of Philosophy and Theology

Anselm and Dualism Reconsidered
Maria Leonor Xavier

Abstract
Anselm dealt, in his time, with several objections to his argument for the existence of God. These historical objections gave him a glimpse of criticisms that would emerge later than theMiddle Ages. However not all the criticism was in the reach of Anselm’s foresight? For instance, he could have not foreseen the demonological argument, which emerged from 20thcentury criticism, and which was proposed by some atheist thinkers to show that the anselmian argument allows one to prove the existence of anything, even if it is the existence of an evil than which nothing worse can be thought. Yet, both arguments, the anselmian one and its symmetrical counterpart, stand for a dualistic view of the world, because both are combined with a conception of good and evil, that Anselm would certainly reject. Therefore to support dualism would cause great unpleasantness for Anselm, if he had foreseen, in the long run, such a consequence of his unique argument.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/ijpt.v3n2a4