God Existence Essay, Research Paper

In the beginning of Scholasticism, one of the biggest problems is the place of dialectic,

because it was often inconsistent with theology. Anselm made a moderate point between

dialectic, philosophy and theology; ?We believe in order to understand rather than understand so

that we may believe?. From that point of view, He proved the existence of the God.

In the ?Proslogium?, Anselm began his dialectic argument to define the God as

?something-than-which-nothing-greater-can-be-thought?. He stated, the idea of the greatest

being cannot be separated from its existence, because if it lacks existence, a still more perfect

being could be thought. Whereas, the God is necessary to exists, not just in the understanding.

In order to support the proof, Anselm used an example of the Fool. He insisted that the

God existed even in a mind of the Fool who said, there was no God. Anselm stated, because

when the Fool hears ?something-than-which-nothing-greater-can-be-thought?, he understands

what he hears, and what he understands is in his mind. Thus, the God is in his mind.

In the ?A reply to the forgiving by a certain writer on behalf on the Fool?, Gaunilo wrote

an attack on Anselm?s argument that the god could not be conceptualized by human being. He

stated that the fool would make an objection because if the god could exist in his mind, other

unreal thing also could exist. He also criticised that the example of the painter could not support

Anselm?s argument.

Gaunilo supported his criticism using a parody on Anselm?s argument in which he proves

the existence of the most excellent island. He replaced ?the most excellent island? for

?something-than-which-nothing-greater-can-be- thought? and show that we could prove the

existence of almost anything using Anselm?s style of argument.