Anselm (1033-1109) described the Monologion, his first major theological work, as a model meditation on the divine essence; and he enjoined his potential critics to read Augustine’s De trinitate diligently and then judge the Monologion by it. In following Anselm’s admonition, I have paid particular attention to Anselm’s claims about the persuasiveness of his arguments, and probed the cogency of some of the many arguments that make up the Monologion. The result is something like a critical companion to the Monologion. It is not meant to replace an actual reading of the Monologion, which is an experience worth having, since no interpretation or paraphrase can capture the feeling of wading through Anselm’s analytic arguments. And I have resisted the common tendency of reading the Monologion merely as a prelude to its more evocative sequel, the Proslogion. [More info]
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