Abstract

The secondary literature on St. Anselm of Canterbury’s ontological argument is voluminous. Some of it attributes to Anselm the view that existence is a great-making property. In this book, Brian Leftow focuses on Anselm’s “Reply to Gaunilo” and Anselm’s claim that “if any perfect being existed, its existence would be absolutely necessary” (1). Leftow contextualizes his book-length project as an attempt to formulate a successful argument for this claim, but he distinguishes his interpretation of Anselm’s claim from other interpretations by asserting that Anselm’s “Perfect Being Necessity” does not imply that necessity is a great-making property. Leftow defends this claim by arguing that “a perfect being could be... Read More.