Student Proposal 1

Contemporary Views on the Proof for Divine Incarnation Put Forward by Saint Anselm of Canterbury

I. The General Questions Under Investigation

My research will be focused on evaluating publications within the area of Philosophy of Religion for their relevance to an upcoming publication by the faculty sponsor concerning the argument for the Incarnation of Christ put forward by Saint Anselm of Canterbury. I will become familiar with the workings of the argument and the positions for the faculty sponsor. With this knowledge in hand, I will search for, evaluate and summarize contemporary (from 1960) publications, which address Anselm's argument. Philosophy of Religion has grown in popularity and scholarship as a major discipline, evidenced partly by the fact that four of the seventeen full-time faculty in the Philosophy department of this university are involved in Philosophy of Religion.

II. Research Methods

The research will be done initially through bibliographic research. I will search through books, journals and collections for publications with reference to Anselm's argument for the Incarnation. Each publication will be given a cursory evaluation of its relevance to the research. Those publications which are deemed relevant will be given a full evaluation and a written summary will be made. The written summaries will highlight the key points of the article, the viewpoint(s) of the author(s), and the points of the faculty member's publication which are addressed by the publication at hand. A complete, overall evaluation of the summarized work will be written to aid the faculty sponsor in her work.

III. Bibliography of Beginning Readings

Anselm, Saint. ìOn the Incarnation of the Word; Why God Became Manî in Anselm of Canterbury, The Major Works. Oxford University Press, Oxford; 1998. Editors: B. Davies and G.R. Evans.

Evans, G.R. Anselm and Talking About God. Clarendon Press, Oxford; 1978.

Hopkins, Jasper, A Companion to the Study of Anselm. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis; 1972.

Rogers, Katherin A., The Neoplatonic Metaphysics and Epistemology of Anselm of Canterbury. The Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY; 1997.

Southern, R.W., Saint Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; 1990.

IV. Relationship of Research to Faculty Sponsor's Research Program

My research is directly related to the faculty sponsor's research in that I will do the first stage of research for the faculty sponsor in her process of writing a book on Anselm's argument for the Incarnation. I have extensive background in Religion which I intend to utilize in the evaluation and reporting stages of the research. I have been involved in a church program for the last four years which requires memorization of portions of the Bible and that experience has given me a familiarity with the topic at hand, especially in the Gospels and writings of the apostle Paul in the Bible.

V. Projected Time-Table

Week # Week of: Days: Comments:
1 05/31/99 1 One day to get oriented
2 06/07/99 3 Previous commitment of 2 volunteer days at church
3 06/14/99 5 Full week: Bibliographic research
4 06/21/99 5 Full week: Bibliographic research
5 06/28/99 5 Full week: Bibliographic research
6 07/05/99 5 Full week: Compilation, organization & evaluation
7 07/12/99 5 Full week: Evaluation of publications
8 07/19/99 5 Full week: Evaluation of publications
9 07/26/99 5 Full week: Writing summaries
10 08/02/99 5 Full week: Writing summaries
11 08/09/99 1 Previous commitment of 4 volunteer days at church
12 08/16/00 5 Full week: Writing summaries & overall evaluation

Note: This time-table is subject to change dependent on the volume of publications turned up in the bibliographic research. If anything, I will err on the side of research and push writing sections to the three hours of semester research I will do. Also, partial weeks will be spent doing work for the following week on the schedule.

Faculty Letter of Support