Prayer and Proof, Affect and Argument: The Role of Joy in St. Anselm’s Proslogion
Anselm of Canterbury’s Proslogion is a Benedictine prayer-exercise that contains a famous argument for the existence of God. This article highlights how the argument is intertwined with the prayer. The article argues that since the understanding of God leads to a joyous affect, the logic of the argu...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
[2017]
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| In: |
The Downside review
Year: 2017, Volume: 135, Issue: 3, Pages: 154-162 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages KBF British Isles |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Anselm of Canterbury’s Proslogion is a Benedictine prayer-exercise that contains a famous argument for the existence of God. This article highlights how the argument is intertwined with the prayer. The article argues that since the understanding of God leads to a joyous affect, the logic of the argument must be causally connected with joy. While much of the secondary literature applies a division between ‘prayer’ and ‘proof’, this article suggests a reading of the Proslogion proof as a prayer-practice, and the prayer-practice is in turn analyzed through the logic of the proof. The result is a description of how contemplation of the argument drives affect, leading to the conclusion that the affect of joy achieves the intended result of the proof: the joy leads the mind to God. The article thus shows that the Proslogion is an intellectual affective prayer-practice. |
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| ISSN: | 2397-3498 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Downside review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0012580617728437 |