World. An anthropological examination (part 2)

This paper is the second of a two-part essay that aims to examine anthropologically

the category “world.” The first part argued in favor of a single-world approach and for

the unavoidable centrality of personhood in the human condition. In this second part

of the essay, I address the metaphysical implications of the category “world” and relate

them to the process of “worlding,” thus defending the continued heuristic value of the old

anthropological category of worldview. I suggest that a consideration of the Ontological

Proof of God’s existence, developed by St. Anselm of Canterbury in the late eleventh century,

helps us develop a comparative theory of personhood by showing how the experience of

transcendence is inherent in personal ontogenesis.