Introduction to Anselm's Proslogion Part 3 of 3

On the names of God

Anselm employs many different names for God in the text. It is important to be conscious of the distinctions among them. First let us group them according to type.

I. Common names
e.g. Deus (God) and Dominus (Lord)

II. Philosophical names.
There are three. Each shall be revealed as we read along the text.

III. Theological names.
e.g. Father, Son, Holy Spirit (Christian), YHWH (Jewish), Allah (Muslim).

The common name comes from the language of everyday expressions, sacred scripture, liturgy etc. It does not refer to any religious tradition. Regardless of religion, this is the name a believer uses to refer to the object of belief. Even non-believers use this name to refer to that, which as far as they are concerned, does not exist. To use pharmaceutical language, it is a generic name.

The theological name comes from how God is revealed to humanity. In a way, it is a name with a face. It already expresses a particular relationship with God and refers back to a particular religious tradition.

The philosophical name comes from how human rationality contemplates God. It is not found in any religious text and believers do not utter it in prayer. The three names we shall hear are all original to Anselm. Take note that the basis of the name is human reason because that is the playing field of philosophy.

In his proof, Anselm cannot use the common names because we may not have the same thing in mind when we say "Lord" or " God." Neither can he use theological names in the proof because philosophy cannot and must not base its assertions on divine revelation.

A final note on names: obviously, and everybody knows that names refer to the named. But what we often take for granted is the fact that the names also refer back to the dubber of the name. The name expresses a particular relationship between the dubber and the named. Different names may refer to the same object of naming but each name demonstrates a particular relationship or context. Take  Pope Francis for example. Francis is his official name as bishop of Rome and pontifex maximus of the catholic Church. This is the name history will remember him by. The title "His holiness" is used in deference to his holy office. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is his name as an original citizen of Argentina. This name refers to him in official records of the government, the school he went to, and so on. Wouldn't it be funny if his Argentine passport names him as Pope Francis? The registrars of the schools he went to need not go into the trouble of changing his name in the records. And finally,  to his close friends and family he could be Jorge, Mario, or some nickname we may never know.

In Anselm's Proslogion, it is important to be conscious of the name he uses for God in particular sections of the text as a key to understanding what he is trying to do in these particular sections.

And so thanks for taking the time to read these notes. Have fun reading chapter two and three of the Proslogion. I assure you, it will be challenging.