SCHOLASTICISM

FAITH & REASON

METHOD

A problem or question is advanced.

Arguments for and against this position are explored.

A conclusion is reached.

Is it in or outside this world?

Is it in or outside the mind?

Is it matter or mind?

UNIVERSALS

Why are some things similar?

To what do universal terms refer?
Does dog refer to a collection of similar things? (Nominalism)
Is it an essence or form? (Realism)

Where do universals exist? Are they in a realm or individuals?

If they are fictitious, how does that affect knowledge?

FAITH AND REASON

Should reason lead faith?

Should faith lead reason?

         Anselm said:

WILL AND REASON

What are the foundations of moral values?

Does God will something because it's right? (Intellectualism)

       This position limits God's power.

Is something right because God wills it? (Voluntarism)

(1033–1109) 76 years

Archbishop of Canterbury

PHILOSOPHY

MONOLOGION & PROSOLOGION

Type of work: Theology

First transcribed: Monologion 1076, Prosologion 1077-1078

The Ontological Argument

"The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God," Psalm 14. To deny the existence of God requires that you understand the concept. Since God is the Being than whom no greater can be conceived, and since it is better to exist in fact than merely in the imagination, God must exist in fact.

The Weak Argument

1.  God is the greatest conceivable thing.

2.  The greatest conceivable thing exists in thought and in reality.

3.  God exists in thought and in reality.

In other words:
 

1.   I have the idea of God within my understanding.

2.   God is a being that which no greater can be conceived.

3.   It is greater to exists in reality than in thought alone.

4.   If God, the greatest conceivable being, exists in the understanding alone, a greater being can be conceived - one that  also exists in reality.

5.   To conceive of a greater being than the greatest conceivable being is a contradiction.

6.   The greatest conceivable being must exist in reality as well as the understanding.

7.   Therefore God exists in reality.

In Behalf of the Fool
 
The monk Gaunilo argued against Anselm In Behalf of the Fool.  Gaunilo claimed that Anselm's argument fails because it depends on our having an idea of God. We cannot have any idea of God because God's nature is wholly inconceivable. 

Anselm responds by saying that the proof does not require a complete understanding of God.  It only requires that we understand that God is such that no greater can be conceived. 

Gaunilo's second objection is that the argument leads to absurd conclusions. For example I have an idea of an island of which no greater island can be thought to be. If it exists in the mind alone, it would not be the greatest conceivable island; therefore it must exist in reality. We call this type of an argument a reductio ad absurdum. It attempts to show that a position results in an absurdity.

Anselm's responded by saying that God is the greatest conceivable thing. This concept refers to one thing only. Existence is contained in the essence of only one thing, and it's not an island. It is not a contradiction to talk about possible islands, or any other contingent thing, that does not exist. It is a contradiction to talk about necessarily existing things that don't exist.

Gaunilo's most devastating argument is that existence is not a predicate (property). If we considered existence to be a property of things, all of predicate logic would collapse. In predicate logic we argue about the properties of things. Unfortunately Anselm responds as if the objection had not been stated; he simply repeats himself; he says that if we understand a thing, than it is in the understanding. He should have responded with this second argument.

The strong argument is as follows:
 

1.  God is the greatest conceivable thing.

2.  The greatest conceivable thing exists in thought and necessarily in reality.

3.  God exists in thought and necessarily in reality.

Necessary existence is a predicate if such a thing exists. Logic of possible, contingent (actual), and necessary existence is called modal logic. In modal logic this is acceptable because necessary existence is a predicate (property). Anselm hints at this argument, but doesn't really seem to be aware of it, or that it is a solution to the problem.

Peter Abelard & Heloise

(1079– 1142) 63 years

Peter Abelard was a French scholastic philosopher, theologian, and logician.

LIFE
 

He was castrated for his love affair with Heloise.

His book On the Devine Unity and the Trinity was condemned.

He was prosecuted for heresy.

The Problem of evil.

The problem of evil is the question of how evil could exist in a world created by a God who is: omnipotent (can do anything), omniscient (knows everything), and benevolent (is all loving).

 

13th Century

William of Ockham

(c. 1287–1347)

Note: The c. in the date above means we don't know the exact date he was born. It stands for the Latin word circa - meaning approximately,  around, or about. other abbreviations include:  c., ca or ca., circ. and cca..

William of Ockham was an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher. He is famous for his principle of proper reasoning called Occam's razor (also written as Ockham's razor). The principle states that the hypotheses with the fewest assumptions is best.