How did the works of St. Anselm help prepare the Western world for the acceptance of Aristotle’s philosophy?
St. Anselm (1033-1109 AD) was a follower of St. Augustine. St. Anselm gave the famous concept of “ontological argument for the existence of God” which means there must be any cause behind the thoughts that come to our mind. These were all Aristotelian school of thought. St. Anselm was one of the first Christian thinkers to support the presence of logic behind religious beliefs.
The works of St. Anselm helped the Western world to prepare for the acceptance of Aristotle’s philosophy because of the following:
Earlier, Christian beliefs were taken only on faith. This, according to the Aristotle-school of thought, was not acceptable. Aristotle had philosophized that only reason and logic should support a belief, and it should not be taken only on faith itself. Christian Philosophers, such as St. Anselm, supported this view and started to indoctrinate Aristotle’s ideas within the Christian beliefs.
St. Anselm believed that one can experience God’s existence by reasoning, having faith and studying the works of God. He told that the positive thoughts behind the imagination of a perfect being, is proof that God exists, and so does the entity called Evil, if the thoughts are applied in reverse.
St. Anselm, being a Christian thinker, brought the works of Aristotle in front of everyone and paved the way for further argument and counter-argument in the Christian world along with the Church, regarding Aristotle’s views on Life, Philosophy and Religion.