St. Anselm of Canterbury | Hugh R. Smart (essay date 1949)
Hugh R. Smart (essay date 1949)
SOURCE: Smart, Hugh R. “Anselm's Ontological Argument: Rationalistic or Apologetic?” Review of Metaphysics 3 (1949): 161-66.
[In the following essay, Smart argues that Anselm's ontological argument offers a combination of rational proof and spiritual revelation about the existence of God.]
In this paper I propose to consider two possible interpretations of Anselm's ontological argument. According to the first interpretation the argument is purely rational; according to the second, reason and faith together form the foundation of the argument.
The ontological argument, as understood by the first interpretation, runs as follows: The concept of God is the concept of a being than which nothing greater can be conceived. This latter concept includes the concept of a being which exists necessarily, for necessary existence is one of the perfections of an absolutely perfect being; that is, the...
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