Poetic/Dialectic: The Confluence of Poetry and Philosophy in St. Anselm's Theology

Abstract

St. Anselm of Canterbury is an important figure in the history of both theology and philosophy. However, his distinction as a writer of poetry in his era remains hitherto under-appreciated. The thesis of this work argues that we find in St. Anselm’s body of work a confluence of poetry and philosophy that models a mode of theology valuable to the contemporary context. Utilizing a new Poetic/Dialectic Analytic methodology, it researches the literature that was most influential in Anselm’s monastic culture including the trivium curriculum, Boethius, Augustine, and the Psalmic liturgical tradition. After demonstrating a Medieval confluence of poetry and philosophy, the body of Anselm’s own work is likewise investigated, followed by an in depth poetic/dialectic analysis of his greatest work, the Proslogion. Finally, a discussion of the theontic semiotics of Anselm’s Neo-platonic participatory ontology connects his understanding of God’s nature as the source of all being with a doxological account of language that both articulates and demonstrates a form of theology that is simultaneously poetry and philosophy.