St. Anselm was the Roman Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, and an important medieval Christian philosopher. He defined the concept of God as "that than which no greater can be thought." Using this concept, he argues that there must actually be such a being; this is his famous "ontological" argument for God's existence. And he also deduces that this being must be eternal, and omnipotent (etc.) - otherwise, he would not be that than which no greater can be thought. Present-day philosophers call this sort of reasoning "perfect being theology."

But what is the key concept? Is it the concept of the greatest being there could possibly be? Or should we argue from the concept of an absolutely perfect being? Or should we start with the concept of a being who is truly worthy of human worship?

In this episode, Dr. Mark C. Murphy, professor at Georgetown University, discusses these deep issues. He argues that the important concept for the Anselmian is absolute perfection.

Here are Dr. Murphy's slides; it is recommended that you view this episode on youtube, as the video there syncs his slides with his talk.

You can also listen to this episode on stitcher or itunes (please rate us there).  If you would like to upload audio feedback for possible inclusion in a future episode of this podcast, put the audio file here.

Links for this episode:

Dr. Murphy's home page

"Does morality depend on God?" and "Why Philosophy of Religion?" Short 2013 videos by the Center for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Notre Dame

"God and Moral Law" - Dr. Murphy's 2012 Plantinga Fellow Lecture

"God Beyond Justice" - Dr. Murphy's 2012 lecture at the My Ways Are Not Your Ways conference

God and Moral Law: On the Theistic Explanation of Morality

Philosophy of Law: The Fundamentals

Natural Law in Jurisprudence and Politics

An Essay on Divine Authority

Natural Law and Practical Rationality (kindle)

Dr. Murphy's papers at PhilPapers

the philosophy of Anselm

Dale's introductory screencasts on two analyses of Anselm's ontological argument

The Society of Christian Philosophers

Peter van Inwagen

Yujin Nagasawa

Jeff Speaks

John Keller

trinities podcast interviews with Dr. Stephen Holmes: part 1, part 2