Non Modo Verbis Sed Et Verberibus: Saint Anselm on Punishment, Coercion, and Violence

This paper examines and attempt to provide a systematic picture of St. Anselm’s discussions, evaluations, and practices bearing on coercion, punishment, and violence. Anselm uses beatings as examples in illustrating important moral distinctions in several works, seemingly having their moral value or disvalue depend on contextual factors, so that beatings are as such, so to speak, morally neutral. Anselm also strongly criticizes another abbot for indiscriminately beating his charges, and explained why such violence was deeply detrimental in several ways. Yet, Anselm saw some legitimate role for corporal punishments. Moving to coercion, punishment, and violence more generally, Anselm’s approach is complex, and attempts to do justice to several key values and concerns. His own approach was that through patience, humility, indulgence within the limits of order, and love on his part, attempts to inculcate an overcoming of violence and hatred as well as other evil affections, vices on the part of others, offering them a possibility and a path by which they may avoid the necessity of punishment or other coercion. He also recognizes that coercive force and punishment not only can and do serve as means to preserving the social order from violence and as means for ends of moral correction and direction, but even figure into the justice and beauty of the divine providential arrangement of the universe