Holy rhetoric: Anselm’s prayers and the phenomenology of divine compassion
T. Sweeney
September 8, 2020 DOI: 10.1080/21692327.2020.1819383 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that Anselm's 'Prayers and Meditations' function as rhetorical prayers that address God through the three Aristotelian means of persuasion (character, affect, and argument), and that compassion is the phenomenological showing of God as the transcending Good, revealing both self and Other. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT In this essay, I examine Anselm’s ‘Prayers and Meditations’ as rhetorical prayers. I consider the basic structure of prayer as address to the Divine. For Anselm, this address is rhetorically structured towards persuading God to reveal himself by the three Aristotelian means of persuasion: character, affect, and argument. Compassion is the phenomenological showing of God as the transcending Good as summoned by the orator. In rhetorical prayer, we take up our existential situation as moved by God to move God. Compassion is the showing-up of God in prayer as revelation of self and Other.
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