Dante and Medieval Thought

Catalog description

Dante and Medieval Thought: Prose Works and Lyric Poetry examines the evolution of Dante Alighieri’s intellectual profile, tracing its trajectory from his youth in the Vita Nuova through the development of his mature thought in works such as De Vulgari Eloquentia, Convivio, Monarchia, Questio de Aqua et Terra, and his lyric corpus. As a poet and philosopher aware of heterodox temptations, Dante engages deeply with the European debates of his era. His prose and lyric output, while revealing the tormented nature of his reflection—often tortured by doubt—contribute an indelible chapter to the intellectual history of his generation and his precursors. Starting with the Vita Nuova—which invents autobiography in the Italian vernacular (la lingua del sì)—this course explores key themes of medieval debate. We will examine the invention of interior writing, theories on the origins of language, and the power of the human intellect. This final theme is inextricably linked to the pursuit of earthly happiness and, as proposed in the Monarchia, the possibility of a terrestrial paradise realized within time and space. The course includes selected readings from, the works of Plato and Aristotle, as well as pagan and Christian Neoplatonic texts (Plotinus, Proclus, the Liber de Causis, Pseudo- Dionysius, and Augustine). It further examines the influence of scholastic and medieval thinkers such as Bonaventure, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Averroes, Siger of Brabant. While these readings are essential for a rigorous understanding of the Commedia, they also serve a broader purpose. They provide the interpretive key to the ancient and medieval traditions of rhetoric, philosophy, science and theology, as well as to Dante’s own universe.