St. Anselm of Canterbury on God and Morality
Date
2022-06-14
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The Monist
Abstract
Anselm of Canterbury, as a classical theist, does not hold that there is a moral, or value, order independent of God. What is good, indeed what is necessary and possible, depends on the will of God. But Anselm’s development of this claim does not succumb to the problems entailed by divine-command theory. One such problem addresses the question of whether or not the moral order is available to reason, bracketing Scripture and Church teaching. Anselm holds that to be just is to conform to God’s will. Nevertheless Anselm proposes a eudaimonistic ethical theory that allows reason to assess moral principles. And Anselm holds that the non-believer recognizes justice, even before he can appreciate the more general category of “good.”
Description
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in The Monist following peer review. The version of record Katherin Rogers, St. Anselm of Canterbury on God and Morality, The Monist, Volume 105, Issue 3, July 2022, Pages 309–320, https://doi.org/10.1093/monist/onac002 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/monist/onac002. This article will be embargoed until 06/14/2024.
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Citation
Katherin Rogers, St. Anselm of Canterbury on God and Morality, The Monist, Volume 105, Issue 3, July 2022, Pages 309–320, https://doi.org/10.1093/monist/onac002