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　　Anselm Descartes Religion
　　Anselm and Descartes
　　The debate regarding the existence of God has lasted for centuries. Man’s quest to establish the validity of God’s existence remains ongoing till this day. Saint Anselm and Rene Descartes were two thinkers who left a lasting impression from their philosophical works on the existence of God. Both men strived to prove the existence of God using rational and logical argumentation. Stylistically they differ, yet both share a cohesion of interest in which their common objective is to use philosophical reasoning to derive an “Ontological Argument” which favors the existence of God.
　　Saint Anselm lived during 1033-1109, the prime of the Middle Ages. He was a devoted Christian who contributed significant works in theology and philosophy. As a faithful Christian, he yearned for a rational interpretation that proved the existence of God. The Augustinian phrase sums this idea; “faith seeking understanding” (Baird 322).
　　In Anselm’s “Proslogion” he develops the “Ontological Argument” attempting to prove God’s existence.
　　Anselm states that God is a being “in which nothing greater can be conceived.” He significantly quotes, the Psalms 13:1; “the Fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.”’ He addresses this issue because he wants to prove the relevance of his prior statement, “we believe you to be something greater than which nothing greater can be conceived.”
　　The Fool described in Psalms can comprehend this statement even if he is unsure that what he understands exists. Therefore, a major distinction is drawn by Anselm; “it is one thing for something to be in the understanding and quite another to understand that the thing in question exists” (Baird 325). Thus, the “Fool” can be convinced by his understanding that there is “something than which nothing greater can be conceived.” Anselm goes even further by arguing that “something in which nothing greater can be conceived” not only exists in the understanding, but can also be thought as existing in reality. Consequently, Anselm maintains, “without a doubt then there exists both in understanding and in reality a being greater than which nothing can be conceived” (Baird 325).
　　Anselm develops his argument further by claiming that because such a thing exists, that thing cannot be thought of as not existing. Moreover, an interesting point is made by Anselm when he says, “It is possible indeed to think of anything other than you as nonexistent.” In other words, Anselm is trying to say that all other things can be thought of as not existing, but God has a perfect existence in which it is impossible to claim nonexistent because then it would be paradoxical. The measure of Gods existence supersedes all others because nothing greater can be conceived.
　　Anselm once again discusses the fool who says in his heart that there is no God. Reason being, he wants to illustrate the connection between “to say in ones heart” and to think. The fool said in his heart that God did not exist, yet the same fool conceived a being greater than any other. Therefore, to say in ones heart is equal to thinking because to say in ones heart, one must first think. This also holds true for the reversal, if he does
　　not think, than he does not say it in his heart. Thinking is initiated in two senses according to Anselm. In the first sense, thinking is signaled by a word that descri本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。