Aug. 12

La Commedia - the Metaphysical Viewpoint

• Causes of the condemnations in Inferno can be understood in the metaphysical point of view:

  • Because of Divine Love & Divine Justice (the Principle of Free Will)

  • Because of Lack of Love & Lack of Free Will

    • Such as the virtuous pagans: Virgil said they were put into Limbo merely because they lived under the false and lying gods, and that was proved false later in Purgatorio (Cato, Statius). To say something like that is to say the condemnation is basically out of their control, which is to be determinism, lack of the operation of free will. And the gods they worshipped were usually the embodiments of Power, less frequently Wisdom, but not Love, which made their investigations of divinity biased (neglected l'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle). The two factors combined made them be able to illuminate Hell a bit, but not to work out redemptions yet.

    • As for Canto XX, while the prophecies they made could be viewed as depravation of Free Will, the souls trapped in this bolgia seldom wielded the power of soothsayers to spread and inspire Love.