Show Notes
From its opening lines, it's clear that PARADISO is not like what has come before in COMEDY. Dante seems to be renegotiating the terms of his poem, establishing a new voice, a new model, and a new methodology for who he will proceed. These opening lines are already packed with the sort of theological and philosophical stumbling blocks that make PARADISO a challenge, not just for a modern reader, but even for a medieval one. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slowly walk throug the first twelve lines of what is assuredly the most imaginative canticle, PARADISO. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [02:42] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto I, lines 1 - 12. If you'd like to read along, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com. [03:56] The glory of the unmoved mover. [09:39] The varying illuminations of the universe. [13:27] The finite geography of heaven. [15:54] A passing glance at the highest heaven. [17:34] Dante and St. Paul, renegotiated. [19:25] The interrelations of desire, intellect, memory, and potentially Beatrice. [22:23] The memory of a memory--or knowing by not knowing, the core of the aphophatic revelation. [29:37] The key paradox of the mystical experience: the cross-currents of the material and the immaterial. [33:02] The resurrection of Brunetto Latini. [35:25] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 1 - 12.
More from Walking With Dante
Beatrice has answered the pilgrim's two unasked questions . . . but she doesn't yet know the one he really wants to ask. Having heard her doctrines about free will and unfulfilled vows, the pilgrim Dante winds himself up through flattery and intellectual curiosity to ask perhaps a personal question about his own unfulfilled vows. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the ways Beatrice's discussions of free will have only caused the pilgrim Dante more problems, even as they've satisfied his intellect. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:35] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 115 - 142. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com. [04:20] The journey of the intellect is the journey of the desire that arises from doubt. [12:37] The pilgrim Dante flatters Beatrice . . . maybe too much. [17:43] Who is addressed in this passage? Isn't it too much to attribute to Beatrice? [20:26] The poet mixes the metaphors to further push truth into poetic space. [22:51] Dante asks a personal question about his unfulfilled vow . . . maybe. [26:24] Beatrice, Francesca, Dante, and Nebuchadnezzar. [30:11] Rereading PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 115 - 142.
Beatrice launches into a subpoint about free will, one derived from her larger discussion of culpability. In this passage, she refines exactly why Piccarda and Constance are charged with breaking their vows in the sphere of the moon: They may have wanted to keep their vows, but that wanting doesn't negate their actions. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this bit of Scholastic reasoning that shores up an uncomfortable if orthodox notion of the will. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:33] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 91 - 114. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com. [04:07] My translated lines violate the incredible concision of Dante's Florentine poetry. [06:36] The central problem: Can there be dissension among those in heaven? [10:58] The notion of a first truth presumes second and third truths--and what are those? [14:05] Beatrice offers an argument about the absolute will and the conditional will that is almost plagiarized from Aristotle and Aquinas. [23:02] Beatrice and Dante the poet hold their orthodox fence firm. [29:07] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 91 - 114.
Beatrice now takes on the pilgrim's second . . . doubt? It had been questions. Now it sounds as if it's more. Doubts. Here, she launches into a discussion of free will that ultimately implicates Piccarda and Constance in their own failures, even though they were forced against their wills out of the convents. Beatrice offers a hard, troubling rationale for their lower status in the pursuit of what she sees as the higher good: the sanctity of free will. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this provocative passage, one of the few moments in which Dante refuses to move his fences. If you'd like to help underwrite the many fees associated with this podcast, please consider a donation or a small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:01] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 64 - 90. If you'd like to read along or continue the discussion with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com. [03:31] The less venomous doubt, perhaps because it takes place fully inside Christian theology. [08:59] Laying the blame on Piccarda and Constance. [13:04] Aristotle's concept of the involuntary will and the voluntary will; Aquinas' concept of the absolute will and the conditional will. [19:53] Examples of a firm will: the Christian St. Lawrence and the pagan Mucius. [24:47] Three implications: the punishment/reward matrix from INFERNO and PURGATORIO continuing into PARADISO, the possible self-editing of PARADISO, and the failure to move the established fence. [30:33] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 64 - 90.
Beatrice continues her rectification of Dante's doubts by using a passage from Plato's TIMAEUS to turn her argument from accommodation to free will. This passage contains perhaps the heart of Beatrice's second grand discourse in PARADISO. But even so, it's a tad garbled as it attempts to answer Plato while giving his works full authority. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we continue our way toward the grand climax of free will in the next passage from PARADISO. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:25] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 49 - 63. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com. [03:14] Summarizing the sense and intricacies of the passage: Plato's understanding of the origins and fate of human souls. [10:05] Dante's reluctance to charge Plato's work with error, since ancient texts are forming an important matrix of authority. [15:35] The garbled conclusion about naming the stars (or planets) Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars. [22:34] Full-throated medieval feminism: Beatrice reads Plato! [25:00] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 49 - 63.
Beatrice begins to take apart the two questions (or doubts) that she has intuited the pilgrim Dante is holding in silence. She first takes on the one with more "poison" in this passage, in which she reveals that the souls in the moon aren't really in the moon but appear here as an accommodation to the pilgrim's limited understanding, based on sensory data. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our journey through the Beatrice's second major discourse in PARADISO. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:33] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 28 - 48. If you'd like to read along or continue the discussion, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com. [03:51] Dante's frustration of even anger may be connected to the accommodating nature of revelation. [07:09] Beatrice reveals the status of souls in the highest heaven . . . and in the moon at the same time. [20:18] Possible irony: Beatrice argues from her observation while telling the pilgrim Dante that he shouldn't trust his powers of observation. [23:04] Does the poet intend any irony in this passage? [26:36] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 28 - 48.