Credo ut intelligam

Credo ut intelligam (alternatively spelled Credo ut intellegam) is Latin for "I believe so that I may understand" and is a maxim of Anselm of Canterbury (Proslogion, 1), which is based on a saying of Augustine of Hippo (crede, ut intelligas, "believe so that you may understand"; Tract. Ev. Jo., 29.6) to relate faith and reason. In Anselm's writing, it is placed in juxtaposition to its converse, intellego ut credam ("I think so that I may believe"), when he says Neque enim quaero intelligere ut credam, sed credo ut intelligam ("I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but rather, I believe in order that I may understand"). It is often associated with Anselm's other famous phrase fides quaerens intellectum ("faith seeking understanding").

The term has been used pejoratively to describe uncritical acceptance of questionable concepts.[1]

References

  1. ↑ Tallis, Raymond, "The Shrink from Hell", The Times Higher Education Supplement October 1997 p. 20
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 21, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.