The Function of Memory in Anselm's Monologion and the Theological and Anthropological Repercussions of Its Loss

In this paper, following Hannah Arendt's claim that memory has been lost from the Augustinian triumvirate of memory, understanding and will, I argue that a tendency to such a "loss of memory" is already present in Anselm's attempt to establish the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity in the Monologion. The approach taken by Anselm in arguing from the Supreme Spirit to the divine Trinity, combined with his deflationary account of Augustinian memory, leads to an identification of the Father with the one Godhead and of memory with mind that would render them superfluous as accounts of a distinct Person in God and a distinct function in the mind. Anselm opens the way to the Aristotelian/Thomist account that reduces memory to a "habitual retention" and a "storehouse." In this way, Augustinian memory is lost.