Virgil, Reason, Love, And The Roots Of Modern Ethics: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, Lines 49 - 75

Walking With Dante

Virgil offers his third discourse on love at the middle of PURGATORIO to 1) show his work about ethics derived from Aristotle's notions of substance and cause and 2) to make sure the pilgrim understands that his actions are his own fault.

This is a complicated passage with lots of historical resonances, particularly from Aristotle and Plato (as understood through Aquinas). It'll take us some work to unpack it, but we'll get very close to our modern understanding of ethics.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the last of Virgil's major discourses.

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

[02:13] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, lines 49 - 75. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[05:12] The various notions of Aristotelean causality in the passage: material and necessary causes, as well as the nature of "substance."

[11:59] Material causes and substantial forms.

[14:59] A misinterpretation of the substance and material in the passage that has infected the commentary on COMEDY for centuries.

[17:44] The desire for primary things and Virgil's misunderstanding.

[23:24] Virgil's (and Dante's) definition of reason and our understanding of ethics from it.

[28:35] Reason's results: ethics.

[29:41] A logic flaw in Virgil's argument.

[33:13] Marco of Lombardy vs. Virgil.

[36:19] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, lines 49 - 75.