the toy in the childs mind. He can feel it and hold it and play with this perfect thing that nothing, in his eyes, can beat. He says it is perfect and part of that perfection comes from the fact that he can play with his creation. If God is perfect in human terms then he must exist, because if he did not then one can imagine something greater that does. What Anselm is saying is that God is perfect, to be perfect is to exist; therefore, God exists. Anselm uses an analogy of a fool to try and display what is meant by his idea. First, he says, Truly there is a God, although the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God (68). The fool is questioning whether or not God exists. He understands what God is, and he knows that God is the greatest being that can be conceived. He understands that this being known as God possesses every human perfection possible. This then, puts God into his understanding or rather, into his mind just as the toy was in the mind of the child. However, the fool cannot understand God to exist. He knows what the greatest being is; he just cannot see that being in front of him. He does not understand that something can exist in reality without being a concrete item or being. He cannot touch God or talk to or listen to God. He can only see God in his mind, so he is confused as to whether God really exists in the world (69). If the boy can see the toy in his mind and yet cannot touch and play with the toy, he is going to have a tough time trying to understand that the toy really does exist. Anselm also tells the story of the painter in which he is explaining the same idea. He says a painter who has an idea of a picture understands it to exist in his understanding or in his mind. He does not understand it to exist in the world because he has not yet painted it. After he paints the picture and puts his idea onto the canvas, he can understand it both in his mind and in reality because it is in front...
