SOURCE: Topping, Ryan. “Transformation of the Will in St. Anselm's Proslogion: A Response to Augustine's Articulation of the Problem of Human Evil.” European Legacy 7, no. 1 (February 2002): 33-43.

In the following essay, Topping explores Anselm's response to St. Augustine's formulation of human will as the root cause of evil, seeing Anselm's solution to this problem in the transformation of man's will through the contemplation of God.

1. Introduction

Anselm wrote the Proslogion between 1077 and 1078 while abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Bec, in Normandy. While little is known of his youth, much is known about his latter years. He entered Bec in 1060, and held the post of Prior for almost 15 years before becoming abbot. Bec was a well known monastery in the 11th century and, because of his brilliance and wise counsel Anselm was in 1089 ordained Archbishop of Canterbury. He was later exiled by King William Rufus of England for...