Anselm of Canterbury on being and freedom. Anthropological aspects
Anselm of Canterbury on being and freedom. Anthropological aspects

Summary/Abstract: The concept of rectitudo in the philosophy of Anselm of Canterbury is one of the important terms when we consider his view of the being. Rectitudo is the inner norm for each existing thing and as such it guarantees the being of the things. Due to rectitude all of the existing entities are keeping their state of being exactly as they were created and therefore they are both right and just – they perfectly fit with their own nature, i.e. with God’s will. Examining some chapters of Anselm’s dialogue “De veritate” we can state that there are some uncertainties considering the view that all existing things are right and just entities. Seemingly not all of the created things inevitably follow their own rectitudo and therefore some of them could cease to follow God’s will and with this to leave their state of being.Continuing this thought we find that the problem with falling away from the rightness, constituting the very being of things, could be traced in the rational willing creatures only. However, this falling away is different form men’s freedom and free choice. In the beginning of De libertate arbitrii Anselm states explicitly, that the ability to err has nothing to do with freedom nor yet with the free choice. By analogy with truth, freedom is defined in an independent from the sin manner.Tracing the main similarities starting with the truth (represented by rectitudo) and the specific definition of freedom, the text aims to show that their concurrence plays a crucial role in understanding Anselm’s anthropological thought.

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