Talisker Tutorial's Great Books III Assignment 7 Study Questions

Great Books III Study Questions for Assignment 7

Study Questions For Anselm's MONOLOGIUM

1. Preface: Why did Anselm write this book? Why was he reluctant to? What does he tell us this book will be about? Why is he going to argue from reason solely instead of Scripture?

2. Chap. 1-2: By what process does A. argue that there is a being that is best and highest of all beings? How is this reasoning process similiar to his arguments in Proslogium?

3. Chap. 3-4: What argument leads Anselm to the conclusion that there is one nature through which all must exist?

4. Chap. 5: How does he argue that it must exist through itself and not through anything else? Why does this not turn into an infinite regression? That is, how can the supreme nature exist through itself and not through something else, as all other things do?

5. Chap. 6: Why does the supreme nature derive its existence from and through itself, instead of from and through nothing?

6. Chap. 8: In what sense should we understand all things being created from "nothing"? As weird as it seems, why is he concerned that we don't think of "nothing" as "something"? In other words, what mistake based on language usage might we make if we say all things were created "from" or "out of" nothing?

7. Chap. 9: In what sense *did* all things exist before they were created?

8. Chap. 10-11: What is the weakness of the analogy of the artisan in illustrating how the thoughts of the supreme being are an expression, or model, of the things that are not yet created?

9. Chap. 14: Why can there be nothing where this Being is not?

10. Chap. 19: In what sense did nothing exist before, or will exist after this Being? (question courtesy Aaron Wells)

11. Chaps. 39-42, and 56 In Anselm's argument, what does "begetting" mean and how is it involved in the relationship between Spirit and Word or Father and Son?

12. Chaps. 47-49 How are Memory, Wisdom (or Intelligence), and Love related to Father, Son, and Spirit?

13. Chaps. 66-68 How is the exercise of rationality in the human mind related to love for God? How is this issue related to the previous question?

14. Chaps. 68-72 How does Anselm argue for the eternal blessedness or misery of the soul?

15. Chaps. 73-77 How does Anselm move from theological demonstration to practical application of faith? What is it to believe *in* something? Why is the difference between living and dead faith?

16. Chap. 79 In the last paragraph, what conclusion does Anselm come to? How is this consistent with his approach to intellectual labor, the exercise of rationality, in the Proslogium? (and remember question 3 above)

17. Review Anselm's argument for the Trinity.

18. What is the scope of the Monologium compared to that of the Proslogium?