The existence of god and the essence of truth: Anselm’s ontological argument in the light of Heidegger
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Abstract
This page offers a new interpretation of Saint Anselm’s ontological argument. The aim is to demonstrate that the significance of this argument goes beyond its suitability or logical validity. Indeed, the value of this argument can be understood as a result of its crucial position within what Heidegger calls the determination of the essence of truth. According to Heidegger, the modern conception of adaequatio corresponds to the Copernican Revolution. This allows interpreting Anselm’s argument as an argument that opens up the possibility for the occurrence of the Copernican Revolution. However, there is an inherent ambiguity in Anselm’s argument, which allows placing it within a crucial position within Heidegger’s account of the determination of the essence of truth. The significance of Anselm’s argument resides in constituting a point of departure from which a determination of the essence of truth was going to be explicitly assumed in an epoch after its own.
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