傑出した哲学者で神学者のカンタベリーのアンセルムス（1033-1109年）について概説します。アリストテレス哲学の再導入で、哲学的言説が難しい専門用語で埋め尽くされる少し前に活躍したアンセルムスの言説は、明瞭かつ親しみやすいものです。自由な選択とは本人の内的状態や外的影響によって決定されるものではないという、今でいうリバタリアン的な自由意志について初めて明示しました。今日に至るまで、すべての神学者が取り組んでいる贖罪の問題に関する、その神に対する理解は古典的神学あるいは完全存在神学の決定的な表現とみなされ、宗教哲学や分析神学に影響を与え続けています。そして有名な神の本体論的（存在論的）存在証明は今日に至るまで議論の的になっています。(cf. Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics))
 

• Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) was the outstanding philosopher-theologian of the Latin West between Augustine and the thirteenth century
• His famous 'ontological argument' for the existence of God continues to generate discussion, debate, and puzzlement
• This introduction examines the historical, institutional, and political contexts that shaped Anselm's work and explains his central project of 'faith seeking understanding', which encompasses arguments for the existence of God along with a rigorous and thorough account of God's nature
• Anselm offers the first clear account of what we now call a libertarian view of free will, according to which free choices cannot be determined by the agent's internal states or by external influences

   
Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) was the outstanding philosopher-theologian of the Latin West between Augustine and the thirteenth century. As a public figure, especially as Archbishop of Canterbury, he corresponded with kings and nobles, popes and bishops, in letters that reveal a fascinating personality and flesh out the practical dimensions of his theoretical philosophy. He wrote at a time when a renewed interest in logic encouraged careful and rigorous argumentation, but before the recovery of Aristotle filled the philosophical discourse with difficult technical jargon, making for writing that is unrivalled for its lucidity and accessibility. He offers the first clear account of what we now call a libertarian view of free will, according to which free choices cannot be determined by the agent's internal states or by external influences. His famous 'ontological argument' for the existence of God continues to generate discussion, debate, and puzzlement. His understanding of God is rightly regarded as one of the definitive expressions of classical theism or perfect-being theology, which remains influential in philosophy of religion and analytic theology. His account of the Atonement is one that every theologian to this day still grapples with.