BASA

The Foolish of the de Utilitate Credendi 137 thought will, however, allow him to be faithful to its own exigencies, grounded on truth. There then exists an exercise of reason prior to faith which acts as its seed. This seed, if germinated by grace, enables reason to arrive at a more profound understanding of God, a comprehensive understanding which is directed towards the vision of God. Perhaps a good analogy to this distinction between knowledge before and after faith can, surprisingly enough, be found in psychoanalytic theory. Here, it is not sufficient to discover 'unconscious material' and present it to the patient. This knowledge remains therapeutically neutral. Rather, it must be looked for precisely at the place where it became unconscious owing to repression. The repression must first be eliminated and only then can the substitution of the conscious for the unconscious 'material' proceed smoothly and possess therapeutic value. 14 Turning to Anselm, it is only when right willing is added to right thinking that knowledge becomes 'thera– peutic', i.e., actively purify the soul and direct it towards the possession of God. It is the initial knowledge - whether of the neurotic of the Pool - to which an additional factor is added, which is capable of transforming him psychologically or spiritually. This is the privileged intellectus which arises from fides . lnsofar as Anselm is concerned, this follows from his unique notion of reason. Rationality is itself justified by its practical, its moral and spiritual, use. It is primarily the capacity for moral discernment, which is itself ultimately directed towards the possession and enjoyment of God. It is always a knowledge of good and evil, a propedeutic to love reflected in joy. Because of this, a 'knowledge' which is restricted to the intellectual domain would be a truncated thing at best, militating against the purpose of creation which, in man, encompasses the enjoyment of God Himself. 15 14 Sigmund FREUD, I ntroductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Standard Edition, Complete Psychological Works, Vol. XVI (London: The Hogarth Press, 1971), p. 436 ff. 15 « Rationalem naturam a deo factam esse iustum, ut illo fruendo beata esset, dubitari non debet. Ideo namque rationalis est, ut discernat inter iustum et iniustum et inter bonum et malum, et inter magis bonum et minus bonum ». Cur Deus Homo, II, 1; 97, 4-7. Also Ibid., 97, 7 - 98, 5.