Who Is Gaunilo Of Marmoutiers?

Gaunilo of Marmoutiers was a monk who lived in the 11th century. He was a contemporary of St Anselm. He is famous primarily for his In Defense of a Fool. This is a criticism of St Anselm's ontological argument which deals with the existence of God. Gaunilo's work gets its name from the fools mentioned in Psalms 24:2 in the Bible and also in Psalm 53:1 who think in their hearts that there is no God. Anselm defended himself in Reply to Gaunilo.

The ontological argument is that there is no need to find any proof that God exists all we have to do is give the concept some thought. The most important criticism of this argument is that it calls for parody. Anselm tried to prove god existed the greatest possible being. Gaunilo used Anselm' logic - to prove the existence of the greatest possible island and thereby refute Anselm.

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