The Cognitive, Rational Basis Of Love: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, Lines 19 - 39

In answer to the pilgrim's request that Virgil show his work on the nature of love, Virgil (and the poet Dante behind him) condense and recast the very bases of the thinking in Western culture: Aristotle's notion that the objective world creates a mental picture that forms the basis of any action.

This passage is one of the most complex in PURGATORIO. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we take apart its claims and some of the translation problems both from the poetry's concision and the seismic change in thought after the Enlightenment.

Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE;

[01:56] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, lines 19 - 39. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, please find this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:30] A few things to admit before we start.

[08:00] The three steps or stages of love.

[14:01] The problem of translating "anima."

[17:26] Basic claims in Virgil's second discourse.

[23:17] Problems with these claims--and how Dante the poet solves them.

[29:14] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, lines 19 - 39.