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Persona #225

Gaunilo of Marmoutiers

fl. 11th c. (d. before 1083)
Benedictine monk; critic of Anselm

"On behalf of the fool" — the first sustained refutation of the ontological argument

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where personas disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid (32 attributes) is shown.

Attribute Gaunilo of Marmoutiers
Time · Extent Finite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Both
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Immediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Limited
Observer · Moral Authority Revelation
Observer · Theological Method Magisterial
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each persona's writings reveal about their stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Gaunilo of Marmoutiers

Conventional medieval Christian: created and finite, with eschatological orientation.

Space

Gaunilo of Marmoutiers

Conventional medieval substantival.

Matter

Gaunilo of Marmoutiers

Conventional medieval substantival.

Observer

Gaunilo of Marmoutiers

Embodied rational soul; libertarian free will under grace; communal-monastic epistemic practices.

Energy

Gaunilo of Marmoutiers

Pre-thermodynamic, conventional.

Information

Gaunilo of Marmoutiers

Personal immortality; ecclesial transmission of religious-doxastic content.

Internal Tensions

Where each persona's working synthesis strains against itself.

Gaunilo of Marmoutiers

Gaunilo's philosophical reputation rests on a single short essay; everything else about him is conjecture. The fact that his name has stood for one of the major moves in Western philosophy of religion for nearly a millennium, on the basis of perhaps twenty pages of writing, is one of the period's most striking demonstrations that a single sharp argument can outlive its author's biography.