Anselm

A Very Short Introduction

De: Thomas Williams

Narrado por: Shea Taylor

Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) was the outstanding philosopher-theologian of the Latin West between Augustine and the thirteenth century. As a public figure, especially as Archbishop of Canterbury, he corresponded with kings and nobles, popes and bishops, in letters that reveal a fascinating personality and flesh out the practical dimensions of his theoretical philosophy. He wrote at a time when a renewed interest in logic encouraged careful and rigorous argumentation, but before the recovery of Aristotle filled the philosophical discourse with difficult technical jargon, making for writing that is unrivalled for its lucidity and accessibility.

He offers the first clear account of what we now call a libertarian view of free will, according to which free choices cannot be determined by the agent's internal states or by external influences. His famous "ontological argument" for the existence of God continues to generate discussion, debate, and puzzlement. His understanding of God is rightly regarded as one of the definitive expressions of classical theism or perfect-being theology, which remains influential in philosophy of religion and analytic theology. His account of the Atonement is one that every theologian to this day still grapples with.

©2022 Thomas Williams (P)2023 Tantor

just don't expect criticism of Anselm

A clearly written and clearly read introduction to Anselm. A relatively large portion of the book is biographical. Much of Anselm's philosophy is clearly explained, but there is essentially no critique of his ideas and no account of their reception.

Excellent introduction to Anselm

This is quite excellent for the very short introduction series. Williams does a particularly great job in discussing free will and the atonement theory from Cur Deus Homo for such a short, introductory book. This will be extremely helpful for newcomers and beginners to St. Anselm.