The First "Scientific" Disquisition Is A Grand Misdirection: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 1 - 18

Manfred's monologue has ended with some shocking conclusions: the excommunicated can indeed end up in heaven, a person can indeed repent at the last second, and the prayers of the living do have an effect on the fate of those in the redeemed part of the afterlife.

But Dante is not done shocking us. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we discover that the moral of Manfred's tale isn't what we thought it was. Wasn't it about the fate of a late-repentant soul? Nope. It was about the unity of the human soul.

This is the first "scientific" disquisition in PURGATORIO. It sets us up for the complications ahead, causing us to realize that even our notion of "plot" was not strictly correct.

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

[01:49] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, lines 1 - 18. If you'd like to read along, print it off, or drop a comment on this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:42] The "scientific" debate among Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Dante on the unity of the soul: the debate's historical roots and its importance for Christian theology.

[18:43] Why does this "scientific" disquisition appear as the opening of PURGATORIO, Canto IV? 1) Because plot is not just action; it is also the development of the intellect. And 2) because Dante the poet surprises us with an alternate conclusion to the ones we might have drawn from Manfred's monologue.

[24:20] Why does PURGATORIO contain so many passages about time? To show us it is a terrestrial, human landscape.

[29:00] Wandering humans in congregation can find the way (although the church does have some power, if not final agency).

[31:32] Rereading this passage: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, lines 1 - 18.