On Truth and Being in Saint Anselm of Canterbury

Semiotics applied to the fides quaerens intellectum

Abstract

The medieval philosophy of the benedictine monk Saint Anselm of Canterbury retains vitality at the beginning of the xxi century. The present recovery is possible thanks to a novel perspective using the applied semiotics of Iuri M. Lotman. The fides quarens intellectum methodology, ascribed to the Abbot of Bec, systematizes premises of the ontological and epistemological orders, respectively. On the other hand, the centrality of God’s Word is fundamental in the dialogical sense. Philosophy, science and theology are different ways of thinking that do not necessarily imply contradiction. Within the Anselmian methodological genesis, Josémaria García de Lomas Mier explains a synthesis of rational and fideistic elements. An inner dialogue recognizes the manifestation of the Truth, imago dei. Finally, there is a clear distinction between thought (cogitare) and intellection (intelligere), which emphasizes the rigor and the different uses that can be given to reason, in favor of that search for Truth in the revealed Word.