Gaunilo’s “On Behalf of the Fool”

E835268

Gaunilo’s “On Behalf of the Fool” is a medieval critique of Anselm’s ontological argument, using the example of a perfect island to challenge the claim that God’s existence can be proven purely by reason.

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Label Occurrences
Gaunilo’s “On Behalf of the Fool” canonical 1

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Statements (42)

Predicate Object
instanceOf medieval text ⓘ
philosophical work ⓘ
theological critique ⓘ
aimsToShow Anselm’s proof form is too broad and leads to absurd conclusions ⓘ
approximateDate late 11th century ⓘ
argumentativeStrategy reductio ad absurdum ⓘ
author Gaunilo of Marmoutiers NERFINISHED ⓘ
centralClaim Anselm’s reasoning could prove the existence of non-existent perfect objects ⓘ
existence cannot be inferred from the concept of a greatest conceivable being alone ⓘ
circulation manuscript tradition ⓘ
counteredBy Anselm’s “Reply to Gaunilo” NERFINISHED ⓘ
critiquesArgument ontological argument for the existence of God ⓘ
critiquesWork Anselm’s Proslogion NERFINISHED ⓘ
genre philosophical-theological treatise ⓘ
polemical text ⓘ
historicalPeriod Middle Ages NERFINISHED ⓘ
influenced later critiques of ontological arguments ⓘ
modern discussions of parody objections in philosophy of religion ⓘ
intendedAudience Christian intellectuals ⓘ
keyConcept conceptual existence vs. real existence ⓘ
greatest conceivable being ⓘ
parody argument ⓘ
language Latin ⓘ
mainSubject Anselm’s ontological argument NERFINISHED ⓘ
existence of God ⓘ
method conceptual analysis ⓘ
logical critique ⓘ
modernRelevance frequently anthologized in philosophy of religion readers ⓘ
philosophicalDiscipline medieval philosophy ⓘ
natural theology ⓘ
philosophy of religion ⓘ
philosophicalStance emphasizes limits of a priori reasoning about existence ⓘ
positionOnAnselm rejects validity of Anselm’s ontological proof ⓘ
preservedWith Anselm’s Proslogion NERFINISHED ⓘ
regionOfOrigin medieval France ⓘ
religiousContext Christianity ⓘ
respondsTo Proslogion II NERFINISHED ⓘ
Proslogion III NERFINISHED ⓘ
statusInScholarship standard early critique of ontological arguments ⓘ
theologicalContext Benedictine monastic theology ⓘ
titleAlludesTo “the fool” of Psalm 14:1 ⓘ
usesExample perfect island ⓘ

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Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Proslogion → relatedWork → Gaunilo’s “On Behalf of the Fool” ⓘ