Gaunilo of Marmoutiers
#20,734
Most Influential Person Across History
French philosopher
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Philosophy
Why Is Gaunilo of Marmoutiers Influential?
(Suggest an Edit or Addition)According to Wikipedia, Gaunilo or Gaunillon was a Benedictine monk of Marmoutier Abbey in Tours, France. He is best known for his contemporary criticism of the ontological argument for the existence of God which appeared in St Anselm's Proslogion. In his work In Behalf of the Fool, Gaunilo contends that St Anselm's ontological argument fails because logic of the same kind would force one to conclude many things exist which certainly do not. An empiricist, Gaunilo thought that the human intellect is only able to comprehend information provided by the senses.