The Existence of God and the Essence of Truth: San Anselmo's Ontological Argument in Light of Heidegger
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This article offers a new interpretation of Saint Anselm's ontological argument for the existence of God. The author's purpose is to demonstrate that the importance of this argument goes beyond its suitability or logical validity. In fact, the author suggests that its value can be understood as a result of its crucial position within what Heidegger calls the determination of the essence of truth. The article begins by explaining that, according to Heidegger, the modern conception of adaequatio corresponds to the Copernican Revolution. The author then demonstrates that this allows for an interpretation of Anselm's ontological argument as an argument that opens up the possibility for the Copernican Revolution to occur. The article then questions this interpretation and suggests that there is an inherent ambiguity in Anselm's argument. Finally, the author argues that this ambiguity allows for the argument to be situated within a crucial position in Heidegger's formulation of the determination of the essence of truth. The article concludes by suggesting that the importance of Anselm's argument lies in being a starting point from which a determination of the essence of truth was to be explicitly assumed in a later time period.
Downloads
Metrics
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The Revista de Filosofía UCSC is an open access journal and does not charge for publication. In addition, it regulates its Copyright and access policy according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0), therefore sharing (reproducing and distributing the material in any medium or format) and adaptation (modifying, transforming, and creating from the material) is allowed as long as proper credit is given and the citation is included with the corresponding data. Moreover, it is not allowed to use the material for commercial purposes.
References
Anselm, St. (1946). Opera Omnia, Volumen Primum. F.S. Schmitt (Ed.). Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.
Anselm, St. (1965). St. Anselm’s Proslogion: with A reply on behalf of the fool by Gaunilo and The author’s reply to Gaunilo. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Barth, K. (1960). Anselm: Fides quaerens intellectum. London: SCM Press.
Davies, B. (2004). Anselm and the ontological argument. In B. Davies & B. Leftow (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Anselm (pp. 157-178). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Heidegger, M. (1975). Die Grundprobleme der Phänomenologie [The fundamental problems of phenomenology]. F.W. von Herrmann (Ed.). Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann.
Heidegger, M. (1976a). GA 9: Vom Wesen der Wahrheit [On the essence of truth]. In F.W. von Herrmann (Ed.), Wegmarken (pp. 177-202). Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann.
Heidegger, M. (1976b). GA 9: Platons Lehre von der Wahrheit [Plato's doctrine of truth]. In F.W. von Herrmann (Ed.), Wegmarken (pp. 203-238). Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann.
Heidegger, M. (1977). GA 5: Die Zeit des Weltbildes [The age of the world picture]. In F.W. von Herrmann (Ed.), Holzwege (pp. 75-113). Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann.
Heidegger, M. (1988). The basic problems of phenomenology. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Heidegger, M. (1998a). On the essence of truth. In W. McNeill (Ed.), Pathmarks (pp. 136-154). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Heidegger, M. (1998b). Plato’s doctrine of truth. In W. McNeill (Ed.), Pathmarks (pp. 155-182). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Heidegger, M. (2000). De la esencia de la verdad [On the essence of truth]. In H. Cortés & A. Leyte (Trans.), Hitos (pp. 151-171). Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
Heidegger, M. (2002). The age of the world picture. In J. Young & K. Haynes (Eds.), Off the beaten track (pp. 57-85). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Inwood, M. (1999). A Heidegger dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Leftow, B. (2004). Anselm’s perfect-being theology. In B. Davies & B. Leftow (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Anselm (pp. 132-156). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Logan, I. (2016). Reading Anselm’s Proslogion. London and New York: Routledge.
McCord Adams, M. (2004). Anselm on faith and reason. In B. Davies & B. Leftow (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Anselm (pp. 32-60). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Murdoch, I. (1992). Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals. Chatto & Windus.
Oppy, G. (1995). Ontological arguments and belief in God. Cambridge University Press.
Tillich, P. (1968). A History of Christian Thought. SCM Press.
Tillich, P. (1978). Systematic Theology, Volume I. SCM Press.
Williams, C.F.J. (1993). ‘Russelm’, The Philosophical Quarterly, 43, 496-499.