Dante's Sweet Symphony of Paradise

DANTE’S SWEET SYMPHONY OF PARADISE

SWEET SYMPHONY STRUCTURE AND ORDER OF ALL MATERIALS

I set out to write a piece on the place and role of music in Dante’s Divine Comedy in February 2017. After three years reading, researching and writing, I have some 450,000 words spread out over a number of documents. I have effectively written three separate books and a number of substantial essays on Dante, leaving me with the considerable task of editing them down and integrating them within the one coherent book. Here is my first detailed map of all the materials. To be frank, I have an immense task on my hands sorting out this material. That said, it is plain that I need to identify a simple structure and outline, pick out the key themes and concepts, and then select and write the materials accordingly.

The key:

Sweet Symphony Outlines [sweet symphony

REWRITE [rewritten notes]

Cacophony to Polyphony [polyphony]

NOTES [identified by different essay titles]

Peace [identified by different essay titles]

NOTES AND TEXT TO ADD [identified by different essay titles]

Forbidden Knowledge [forbidden knowledge]

Dante’s Commedia and the Forgotten Truth of Apocalyptic Dreamworlds [forgotten truth]

MUSIC [music

Poetry and Music [poetry and music]

Mandelstam [OM different essay titles]

In my notes, these titles are all colour coded, making it clear in the text where the materials are drawn from.

Introduction

[Keep the introduction concise – there is material on politics and political order here that belongs in the main text. Introduce Dante’s political theory through the Convivio. Take material from the introduction and put it later. To be concise there is a need to avoid repetition

Why Study Dante Today?

[these opening essays should be re-written as the one introduction answering the ‘why Dante now’ question. I also have an alternative introduction which takes us directly into rational freedom and right ordering. Also, many of the points made here should be cut and copied into appropriate places in the text

[re-write these essays as the one introductory essay related to the book to come.

[these early essays should be rewritten to introduce the essential themes of the book. Establish the plan and the plot of the book, and then read these introductory essays in their light, accenting the thesis to be presented and developed.

[The question of being ‘out of date’ [why study Dante today

[Dante’s continued influence [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[Dante’s continued influence [essential book

[Dante’s influence [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[Mumford influenced by Dante

[Dante inspires the new life – Mumford points to the new society

[timeless ideals – the continued relevance of Dante’s ethics, political ideals, [why Dante now

[Dante and the Italian language [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[Primo Levi – the sweet new style that saves – against stuffy moralizing translations [Why is Dante still relevant?

[the vernacular and the living language [Mumford

[vernacular language over Latin – Levi [essential book

[the first poet of the vernacular [What makes Dante Alighieri to be the best poet of all times?

[vernacular – Dante sought to reach a wide audience [Why is Dante still relevant?

[vernacular language - De vulgari eloquentia [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[terza rima – the words sing [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[terza rime – impossibilities of translation [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[difficulties of translation [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[difficulties of translation [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[reading Dante through the commentators, no substitute for the real thing [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[Dante is difficult, but not as difficult as you may think - Dante is an education, an encyclopedia [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[Beckett’s deathbed Dante [Why is Dante still relevant?

[how to read Dante – Dante as readable [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[Dante’s uneven reputation over the centuries [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[Dante’s reputation over the centuries [forgotten truth

[Dante’s reputation – critical rejections of Dante – Eagleton and Petrarch [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[Dante’s enduring significance [essential book

[Dante’s works before The Comedy would have secured him a place in history [What makes Dante Alighieri to be the best poet of all times?

[Dante influences and intentions in writing The Comedy [What makes Dante Alighieri to be the best poet of all times?

[Dante as great poet [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Dante encompasses all life [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Ruskin - to remain cool in the midst of burning emotion [the doctrine behind the lines

[Mumford on the reality of evil [Mumford

[Dante has the bedrock of personal human truth – Beckett, Wilde, and Mandelstam [essential book

[Dante the psychologist and therapist – words for healing [Mumford

[Eliot – Dante’s influence on The Waste Land [essential book

[content and range of The Comedy [Why is Dante still relevant?

[epic poetry – Dante’s opening line takes us directly to the human core [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[Dante’s characters - Dante embodied in poetry the entire gamut of human emotion in an encyclopedic theological and philosophical work [What makes Dante Alighieri to be the best poet of all times?

[Dante as unorthodox in swimming against times and tides [from mad in hell

[Dante as Longfellow’s great liberator [star – read this as a liberation from stuffy translation and moralizing

[Dante’s subversive unorthodoxy against Victorian stiff-necked moralism [essential book

[the uncanonical Dante – Dante the interweaver [essential book

[the strangeness of reading Dante for the first time – Dante plunges us into reality [from mad in hell

[Pasolini - the abhorrence of materialism and consumerism as well as of opportunism in politics [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Pasolini – critique of materialist society [essential book

[Dante’s influence on TV – arsy versy world [essential book

[weaving reality and unreality – contents and sources – Dante’s realism [Why is Dante still relevant?

[The Comedy as Christian epic [Why is Dante still relevant?

[the structure and order of The Comedy [Why is Dante still relevant?

[relation and character of inferno, purgatorio and paradiso [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[the choice of Virgil as guide and the nature of the Comedy [Why is Dante still relevant?

[pagan poetry – Dante praises Virgil [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[the influences of The Comedy [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Dante and Catholic orthodoxy [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Dante’s contemporary relevance as an analyst of the soul [Why is Dante still relevant?

[music and the arts – composers put the Comedy to music [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Dante asks the big questions in each book [Why is Dante still relevant?

[The Inferno continues to have the greatest appeal – the loss of the metaphysical sensibility [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Dante’s criticisms and The Reformation [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Dante explicates universal truths through personal experience [Why is Dante still relevant?

[materials – vast range of sources [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Purgatory – drawn into greater theological understanding [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Paradiso - the highest point that poetry has ever reached or ever can reach [Why is Dante still relevant? [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Beatrice and Mariolotry – La Vita Nuova [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Beatrice symbolizes man's progress from Gothic darkness to the radiance of the Renaissance [essential book

[glimpse of the Trinitarian Godhead] [Why is Dante still relevant?

In the end, Dante receives a glimpse of the Trinitarian Godhead. [Why is Dante still relevant?

[in Heaven, all contention is resolved [Why is Dante still relevant?

[depth and richness of Dante’s poetic lines [Why is Dante still relevant?

[influences and learning [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Dante as love poet - ordering love to its true object [Why is Dante still relevant?

[The Comedy as poetic creation, Dante the uncanonical author, the poem as sacred [essential book

[Dante’s Catholicism invites non-believers to return home [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Beatrice – to know and love the God one cannot see – Glaucus [Why is Dante still relevant?

[Dante and the immortal soul [essential book

[judgement and sin – the judgmental approach contrary to Jesus] [Why is Dante still relevant?

[eternal damnation easy to imagine in an age of organised barbarism [essential book

[positive message beyond the doom and damnation, eternal joy as well as punishment - Hell and hope [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[Dante as inherently political being [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[cupidity – one of the most ruinous of sins [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[recovering the political and ethical commons – the need for public authority [why Dante now

[roman empire – Dante’s commitment to universal government [Why is Dante still relevant?

[the need for government [why Dante now

[beyond systems to practical reason in forming genuine public community – commoners need public community [why Dante now

[the need for a vision of the future as an object of willing [why Dante now

Introduction – the right order of things – restoring hope and connection [sweet symphony

((Introduction))

[the transformative power of the Greater Love [sweet symphony

RATIONAL FREEDOM [there needs to be a chapter on Rational Freedom early on, as part of the ethical and philosophical foundation. One chapter will be enough before returning to ‘rational’ themes in specific reference to Dante later in the text

Reasons to Study Dante [this is a general presentation of Dante and Rational Freedom. There is room for a short chapter or section on this, introducing the themes concisely and then developing them throughout in relation to Dante’s own words and ideas. This needs to be located early as a foundation chapter in ethics, politics, and philosophy

[Dante and Rational Freedom

[Rational freedom in ancient philosophy

[Rousseau

[From Hegel to Marx

[Habermas and rational freedom

[RF as an ethic of unity for the long range good

[rights – overcoming separation

[the relation of Marx to traditional ethics – Dante and RF

[Dante and RF – the common good

[securing human sociability and rationality in a world subject to other than social and other than rational forces

[Dante in the age of ecology – need for collaboration [rewritten notes [later with ecology and collaborative politics

[intro a particular look at Dante, presenting as well as challenging his view of Christian transcendence] [rewritten notes

[introduction - justification of Dante - to spread the message of Dante – encouraging people to read Dante[rewritten notes

Par 10: 22-25

[loss of universalism – time of crisis – the age of collapsing institutions and assumptions – need for recovery [rewritten notes [later ecology

[politics and Dante – long and short game – long and short sight [rewritten notes [later ecology

[Dante’s combination of qualities – message and mission [rewritten notes

[the veltro – law - a leader who was to bring peace and order to the world. [rewritten notes [later – this material needs to be a brief introduction

Dante’s popular art and public concern – the political intent

[human comedy [rewritten notes

[Dante’s diversity and democracy – Dante covers the range of humanity and human emotions [rewritten notes

[democratising writing [rewritten notes

[relationship between contemplation and action – Plato – public concern and democratic intent [rewritten notes

Inf 3: 59–60

[Dante’s concern with the here and now (Blake’s accusation of atheism [rewritten notes [later on Dante’s politics

[philosophical anthropology – Dante’s political concern [rewritten notes

[Dante the earthly citizen – the participant and communicant – Dante the educator, the man with a moral and instructive purpose [rewritten notes

[Dante’s concern with the public – Dante’s public intention [rewritten notes

[convivio – virtues as moral values - This public intention comes out even more in Il Convivio] [rewritten notes [the introduction needs to introduce these themes lightly and then specialize later

THE METAPHYSICS OF MUSIC

[there are three sections here that need to be written as the one 1) the metaphysics of music; 2) the music of the spheres; 3) political order and harmony. They were written separately and stand alone in their own right. But I only have room for one chapter on this.

[musico-moral relation to its moral and metaphysical meaning [polyphony

((Music measures the relation to God))

[music brings us to the order and reason inherent in the world [sweet symphony

[diverse parts are infused by the unity of the ultimate end [sweet symphony

[the musical thread running through The Comedy [sweet symphony

[Dante weaves an auditory experience into his tale [sweet symphony

((Objective reality and objective morality))

[essentialist metaphysics vs plasticity, construction, and unbounded self-creation [sweet symphony

[the clash between Thrasymachus and Plato [sweet symphony

[the true and right order of things as against inversion and perversion [sweet symphony

[disclosure vs imposure - praxis-based projections of value and meaning [sweet symphony

[disclosure and imposure – the obsessive impulse to control [logical ideological

[the objective standard for evaluating human thoughts and actions, the truth that binds each and all [sweet symphony

[absolute truth is an attribute of absolute being [sweet symphony

[Marx modelled the social Hell of the capital system upon Dante’s Inferno [sweet symphony

[how we may come to avoid Hell and what we must do to enter Paradise – the utopian ‘ought to be’ political ideals [sweet symphony

[the cosmic longing for meaning and the search for the good life [sweet symphony

((The well-tempered harmony

[the proper ordering of the universe [sweet symphony

[the power of both words and music to transfigure existence [sweet symphony

[Why Dante now? [sweet symphony

[realism and ecological catastrophe [epic vision

[the dialectic of corporeal usury and spiritual appreciation in a time of ecological crisis [sweet symphony

Inf 11: 94-111

((The influence of music in soulcare

[the influence of music in moral and character formation [sweet symphony

[Music is an integral component of a healthy and functioning civilisation [sweet symphony

((Commercial Music and Soul Music))

Par 33: 82-93

[Good music leads to the formation of good characters and the creation and maintenance of good societies [sweet symphony

[the spiritual path leading pilgrims back to God – metaphors and the human journey [sweet symphony

[love and knowledge [sweet symphony

[Music has the power to draw us to salvation; it also have the power to divert and distract us from that higher power [sweet symphony

[against mechanized society - the reduction of quality to quantity [sweet symphony

((familiarity and vision – beyond realism))

[vision - to see beyond narrowed horizons [sweet symphony

[evil is repetitive, mechanical, soulless, enervating - immobilised power [sweet symphony

[Dante’s ‘eternal prison’ of Hell [sweet symphony

((Philosophical and religious influences))

((Plato))

[the desire to produce 'eternity' – Plato and art [sweet symphony

[the rise and fall of good music was directly connected to the fate of its society [sweet symphony

[‘unmusical anarchy’ as likely to bring down the social order [sweet symphony

((Aristotle))

[the power of music to influence the moral character of persons and of society [sweet symphony

[music as integral to the high cultural and artistic content characteristic of the good life [sweet symphony

[the arts are not merely 'entertainment' but exercise a formative influence [sweet symphony

((St. Augustine))

[music has an educative function in imparting deeper truths and values [sweet symphony

[A love and a joy that is ‘beyond all words.’ [sweet symphony

((Boethius))

[the principles of music [sweet symphony

[musica mundana, musica humana, and musica instrumentalis [sweet symphony

[Boethius’ cosmic music, therefore, integrates heavenly and earthly realms in an attunement [sweet symphony

((Ancient and religious theories of music - discussion))

[Music is an integral component of personal growth, the morality of society, the character and health of civilisation and, ultimately, of salvation [sweet symphony

[the pneumatological effect – the spiritual power of music [write the songs

[the spirit of song [write the songs

[Oliver Sacks - the psychological and spiritual sustenance of music [expression of nature

[music makes the soul sing [expression of nature

[the attunement of mind and body [expression of nature

[music disposes persons in the acquisition of virtue and vice [sweet symphony

[the relation between biological and cultural evolution [sweet symphony

[nature and art [sweet symphony

[the universal language of beauty [sweet symphony

[Music is an innate and universal grammar [sweet symphony

[Music goes directly to the ecology of the human heart [sweet symphony

[the music that goes direct, beyond mediation of words and symbols [sweet symphony

[the connection between music and moral formation [sweet symphony

((The musical anthropology))

[Music pervades God’s Creation [sweet symphony

[music built into the fabric of the universe – creation and sub-creation [write the songs

[music expresses harmony of the universe [expression of nature

[music as proof for the existence of God [expression of nature

[the unity of the mental and the moral effect of music [sweet symphony

[Victor Hugo on the power of music [expression of nature

[music and responsiveness – the failure to hear the music [write the songs

[The Physiological and Psychological Effects of Music [write the songs

[music, responses, emotions [write the songs

((The centrality of music to the universe))

[the power of music to transform souls and put us in touch with the exquisite beauty of the world [sweet symphony

[the participatory universe of song and dance [sweet symphony

[the right path - songs of direction and songs of diversion [write the songs

5 The Music of the Spheres

[naturalist explanation [polyphony

[music filtered through theological assumptions and commitments [polyphony

[harmony derives from the Greek armotto, which means ‘to put together,’ ‘to assemble.’ The idea of harmonic unity attained by the convergence of different elements to a common concordant point [polyphony

[references in Dante [polyphony

[The concordance which characterises Dante’s Paradise exists as a composition of different elements in harmonic unity – lack of explicit textual reference to the music of the spheres in Dante [polyphony

[Aristotle and Aquinas criticisms [polyphony

[Pythagoras in the Convivio [polyphony

[Plato and the music of the spheres [polyphony

[Cicero [polyphony

[The Church Fathers and the challenge to assimilate the Pythagorean and Platonic views into their Christian doctrine or reject them as pagan [polyphony

[St Basil of Caesarea [polyphony

[St Augustine [polyphony

[Christian and pagan philosophy on harmony [polyphony

[Regino [polyphony

[the Platonizing Christianity of the twelfth century – Peter Abelard [polyphony

[Aristotelianism, or the Silent Cosmos [polyphony

[The Music of the Spheres and Dante’s Works [polyphony

[the Platonic roots of Dante’s thought [polyphony

[Dante’s integration of philosophical-astronomical conceptions within theological-liturgical theories of music [polyphony

[the case for Dante embracing the theory of the harmony of the spheres [polyphony

Political Order and Harmony (needs to be placed)

[this needs to be integrated within the Music and Numbers sections - Dante’s views on political order and authority need to be set out at length, first through the Convivio and then elaborated in The Comedy – avoid repetition

Harmony = attunement – The Musical Model of politics. This needs to be linked to Dante’s internal music and its political implications with respect to the proper constitution and ordering of public life

[order – everything in its place – seeing the world as one beyond time and place

[political order – right workings of institutions [rewritten notes

[Purg 6

Purg 16 Purg 17-18

Purg 25

THE CHINESE BRONZE BELL

[the power of music – heaven, earth, humankind [Chinese bell

[ancient bells [Chinese bell

[society of ceremonies [Chinese bell

[music and good connotation - Confucius [Chinese bell

[Confucius, beautiful music and the harmonious society [Chinese bell

((the dancer and the dance – getting in tune)) [this is a statement of the musical model in politics, and so belongs earlier to orient the text

GOETHE ON NATURE

[Dante’s poetry as physics – space exists as a receptacle for amplitudes [conversation

[Dante’s dance – Paradiso as a kinetic ballet [conversation

[seeing with clear eyes [conversation

[Dante’s puts writing on a par with painting and music [conversation

[introductory rationale – unfreezing the movement within the architectonic [poetry and music

[recovering Dante, unfreezing Dante – Dante as conductor of music [conversation

[musical grammar – introductory rationale [poetry and music

[the need to communicate and engage in intercourse [poetry and music

[evolutionary theory of music and language [poetry and music

[origins of music – the needs of the social group [poetry and music

[personal origins of music [poetry and music

[the singing body [poetry and music

[vocal music began as an attempt to communicate with the supernatural, collective music as religious music – the fracturing of the collectivity as diabolical [poetry and music

[Rousseau – music as a derivative of the ungovernable emotions – the heart’s desire [poetry and music

[musical instruments as artifacts [poetry and music

[poetry and music are wedded – melody = melos, denoting both lyric poetry and the music to which the poem was set [poetry and music

[music serves a purpose – an essential part of life’s flourishing – relations between people, a collective expression [poetry and music

[the crucial question of politics: how to bring the many and the one together – recovering the common interest [logical ideological

[the perfect union [sweet symphony

[attunement as harmonious relationship [dance

[straightening out the ideological by way of the logical [dance

[the musical model as tempering well [dance

[attunement with the grammar of harmony – the ordered world [logical ideological

[Pythagorean Political and Ethical Theory - principles of harmonia [logical ideological

[attunement as harmony [logical ideological

[music, numbers, harmony [logical ideological

[music as the archetype harmony [logical ideological

[ethical definition of music [logical ideological

[differential harmony [logical ideological

[individual and collective agency addressing climate crisis [dance

[we live in a political world subject to ideology – asymmetrical relations [dance

[the hijacking of cooperative instincts [dance

[the world that transcends the political world, beyond social immediacy [dance

[a Platonic ecology [sweet symphony

[Platonic ecology [dance

[ecological virtue [logical ideological

[ecological virtue changing patterns of behaviour [logical ideological

[Plato’s ideal of harmony [logical ideological

[deep harmony and harmony as conformity [logical ideological

[deep harmony as open [logical ideological

[to achieve harmony as the ultimate ideal [logical ideological

[the operation of the universe [logical ideological

[harmonization a virtue [logical ideological

[harmony within society and between humanity and the natural world [logical ideological

[unity and sameness - process of unifying people’s multitude of opinions into a common one [logical ideological

[walking – the pace and rhythm of walking – back on our feet and recover our dancing grounds [poetry and music

[the music of poetry [poetry and music

[the musical origins of language and poetry [poetry and music

[the Singing Neanderthals [poetry and music

[Bakhtin and the dialogical nature of artistic creation [poetry and music

[Bakhtin and the dialogical nature of artistic creation – language an expression of social identity [poetry and music

[social and dialogic nature - an appreciation of the religious and the metaphysical [poetry and music

[materialist immanence [poetry and music

[doing justice to our dialogic natures – dialogue and monologue [poetry and music

[the poetic art as heroic activity – sub-creation in a creative universe [poetry and music

[where does value lie [poetry and music

[salvation by surrender [poetry and music

[transference to the most transcendent thing imaginable [poetry and music

[the need for faith – faith is a matter of grace [poetry and music

[the need for faith – faith is a matter of grace – we created God to save the world from nothingness [poetry and music

[self-created gods and the creative universe [poetry and music

[being still [dance

[the philosopher ruler [dance

[disaster is to be without a star [dance

[the infernal agency of human beings within alienative social relations [dance

[Dante’s hopeful attitude amidst the worst of times [poetry and music

[cleaving to the Eternal Love and staying green and real – the creation requires difference and love [dance

[the cry of the Earth as the cry of the poor [dance

[love of place felt once more in Purgatory – Hell is lacking the warmth of connection [Purg

[love beyond proof [Par

Early Years

[music - Dante was deeply moved by music [this chapter may be a better earlier as an introduction in that it takes us to the musical model – it depends on how concisely the previous sections can be written, leaving more intricate analysis of politics and ethics for later. There is a need to establish the importance of music early.

DANTE AND MUSIC

((Dante’s love of music))

[Dante’s great love for music [sweet symphony

[Dante clearly both knew and loved music [sweet symphony

1 Music to Dante’s Ears: Exposure to Polyphony [polyphony

[melody

Melody and Francoise Hardy

[polyphony plays a central and systematic part in The Comedy – organum refers to a type of multivocal composition [polyphony

Purg IX: 142-45

Par 17: 43-45

[abundance of polyphony in The Comedy [polyphony

Purgatory 9:144

Paradiso 17: 44

[the existence of a polyphonic tradition in Florence during and even before the Thirteenth century [polyphony

MUSIC

((Dante and music))

[the symphony of the universe – getting in tune – composers set Dante to music [sweet symphony

[politics as music, music as the politics of harmony [sweet symphony

[poems set to music [rewritten notes

[the musical model – the theme of Dante and Music needs to be introduced and established early, because this is the theme structuring the argument and its unfolding

Introduction

[music woven into the fabric of the Comedy [polyphony

[presence, use, and purpose of music in The Comedy [polyphony

[relation between musicality and poetry - the ideas of order, harmony, peace, universality, and world government [polyphony

[music an aesthetic device and as integral [polyphony

[Dante’s musical exposure and training [polyphony

[The musica diabolic of the Inferno [polyphony

[Purgatorio as a musical training, an appropriate pharmakon [polyphony

[Polyphonic singing in Paradise [polyphony

[the music of the spheres [polyphony

[The inherently musical discourse of The Comedy [polyphony

((The musical structure of the Comedy))

((The structure of the musical transition in the Comedy))

[poetry written and recited as a branch of music [sweet symphony

[Dante has recourse to music and sound that words cannot express [sweet symphony

[the journey from a Hellish cacophony in a hopeless world to a Heavenly Polyphony [sweet symphony

[Conclusions – use these to structure and orient the document] [polyphony

[the innate music of the Comedy – the structural relevance of musical references [polyphony

[Dante’s journey through cacophonic, monophonic, and polyphonic landscapes possesses an inherently musico-moral structure [polyphony

[the diabolic music of the Inferno, healing in Purgatory, and emanation in Paradise [polyphony

[The Comedy proffers a system of musical mediation [polyphony

[the transition from cacophony to monophony and finally to polyphony is a therapeutic process [polyphony

[Dante’s unity as polyphonic [polyphony

The diabolic and the symbolic [polyphony

Musical Instruments as Allegory [polyphony

[Dante’s dream of songs – Purgatory is the place of dreams[rewritten notes

[this goes with the Purgatorio

[Purg 19

[Purg 27

Purg 9: 13-21

[entrance into Purgatory proper as an active participant [rewritten notes

Purg 9: 70-72

The influence of Guido Cavalcanti

[introduction of themes by way of biography – comes early

[song and dance] [rewritten notes

[music and love – the gentle heart [rewritten notes

[love and the gentle heart – the ecology of the human heart – keeping the heart fresh [rewritten notes

[poem intended to be sung – music and number [rewritten notes

[numbers and numerology - the arrangement of La Vita Nuova is based on an elaborate pattern [rewritten notes

DANTE AND NUMBERS

[Harmony and proportion as closely related to beauty [sweet symphony

[the use of language and the role of words – mathematics as poetry – Bronowski [Dante and music

[maths as poetry – everything is measure] [conversation

[truth and beauty [Dante and music

((numbers – ratio and proportion))

[ratio and proportion, and of the principles of harmony [sweet symphony

((numbers – Pythagoras))

[the concept of rationality is connected to the mathematical idea of ratio [sweet symphony

[the 'Golden Mean' [sweet symphony

((numbers – Plato))

[mathematical laws and proportions [sweet symphony

[ideal forms [sweet symphony

[the divine Craftsman [sweet symphony

[the orderliness of the universe exhibits a beauty that establishes the model for rational souls to understand and to emulate [sweet symphony

((numbers - the Pythagorean tradition))

[the concept of a mathematically based musical harmony as the great ordering principle of the world [sweet symphony

[frozen music - Scholasticism in stone [sweet symphony

((numbers – numerology – St Augustine))

[harmony and symmetry [sweet symphony

[Plato, Augustine, and singing to God [Dante and music

[numbers possessed divine significance as thoughts of God [sweet symphony

[unlocking the secret of the universe [sweet symphony

((numbers – Boethius))

[the beauty of mathematical noumena and its permanence against phenomena [sweet symphony

[the philosophy of proportion [sweet symphony

[accessing reality [sweet symphony

((numbers – the virtue of numbers))

[revealing the connections and patterns that ran throughout the universe [sweet symphony

((numbers – Bonaventure))

[eschewing mutable goods for true light [sweet symphony

[toward the perfection of wisdom – the mind’s road to God [sweet symphony

[symbolism, numerology, and prophecy [sweet symphony

((numbers – numerology in Dante))

[the numerological architecture of the Comedy [sweet symphony

[sacred arithmetic [sweet symphony

((numbers – numerological thinking))

[beyond the deceptive world of appearances to the underlying reality [sweet symphony

[the security and certainty of numbers [sweet symphony

[a poetic ideal and a metaphor for a world singing in harmony [sweet symphony

[a Pythagoras for every age [sweet symphony

((numbers – Wertheim against Platonism))

[putting the worlds of fact and value back together [sweet symphony

[having a spiritual appreciation of the world [sweet symphony

[embodiment and immanence [sweet symphony

[integral thinking and collaborative solutions [sweet symphony

[the psychological and spiritual aspects of our being [sweet symphony

[the Eternal Quest for Non-religious Divinity [sweet symphony

[God as the creator of the universe and redeemer of mankind – putting science and religion together – the two concepts of God [sweet symphony

[embodied physics [sweet symphony

[the 'creative function of God' [sweet symphony

((numbers – Dante beyond numerology – innate love))

Purg 18: 49-60

Par 2: 37-42

Purg 18: 61-72

Par 27: 106-120

Par 2: 127-148

Par 3: 10-30

[numerology in the Comedy [sweet symphony

[the cult of forbidden knowledge [sweet symphony

[conforming our wills to God as ultimate reality, not to soulless, spiritless intellectual constructions and abstractions [sweet symphony

[Christ’s place … is with the humanity of the poets [sweet symphony

[Dante takes us beyond the realm of reason, but not irrationalism [sweet symphony

[seeing through the shadow of the real - One can talk about God only in what seem like riddles and paradoxes [sweet symphony

[the scientific picture of the cosmos – the liberation from stellar vaults as a liberation of moral purpose from scientistic encasement [sweet symphony

[beyond the science to an eternal present unfolding into an infinite future [sweet symphony

Political Disaster

[introduction of politics by way of biography – comes early, before theoretical reconstruction and elaboration

[Dante enters politics [rewritten notes

[poetry – the pull of politics leading to exile [rewritten notes

[paradise in dreams – ideal seen in exile] [rewritten notes

[exile comes in a section of its own, related to the objective standpoint

[exile from home [rewritten notes

Par 17:55-60 Par 17: 64

[exile – and the universal vision out of exile [rewritten notes

[exile brings objectivity [rewritten notes

Public Grace [Boccaccio’s view on public scorn for visionaries

Language and Poetry

[music and poetry – Dantes musical architectonic - De Vulgari Eloquentia [rewritten notes

[poetry as metaphysics [rewritten notes

[poetry, music, and metaphysics – important section to be placed

Dante’s influences

[reconciling the various ethical and intellectual currents [rewritten notes

[philosophical discussion – needs to be properly placed, with the Convivio

Dante, politics and the city

[Dante the city man] [rewritten notes

[present Dante’s political philosophy before The Comedy – this section seems to mix the two, leading to a narrative that overwhelms and confuses – present the themes and principles first, and then proceed to the politics of The Comedy later

Par 8: 115-117

Par 17: 55-56

[the ideal city state as the ideal human habitat – the universal as a constellation of well-formed city-states [rewritten notes

[city and politics – reconciling the universal and self interest [rewritten notes

Inf. XVI: 73-75

[books before the Comedy - De vulgari eloquentia and the De Monarchia have a didactic purpose – public drive [rewritten notes

[works before the Comedy – poetry as the additional element that leads to truth - La Vita Nuova, is a long disquisition on the question ‘What is love [rewritten notes

[the peerless quality of Dante the poet [rewritten notes

[Dante’s infidelity as the earthly and interested man – prideful self-invention and self-worship divorced from inner nourishment – city of earth and city of heaven – Blake’s accusation [rewritten notes

Purg 30: 127-132

Purg 31: 34-36

Inf 6, Purg 6

Par 6: 10 Par 6: 139-142 Par 7: 1-9

Purg 32: 100-102

The Convivio - Invitation to a Banquet

[establishing the philosophical foundations through a discussion of the early works

[new life – instructive purpose – a truthseeker – thirst for knowledge – writing in the vernacular Il Convivio [rewritten notes

[convivio - the cosmology [rewritten notes

[convivio allegory and history – recognition of meanings beyond the literal and actual [rewritten notes

[the philosophical foundations of Dante’s views on politics, institutional order, and authority – here is where the concept of ‘Rational Freedom’ is to be introduced and developed

[convivio – love – the song of the soul [rewritten notes

The empire and the church

[principles of government – reconciling order and liberty [rewritten notes

[convivio – the status of philosophy – philosophical and imperial authority as one – the reign of righteousness – perfect justice [rewritten notes

[convivio – unity of knowledge over democracy of opinion – the need to cultivate reason [rewritten notes

[Dante’s Comedy is at least as human as it is divine - the universal and the particular] [rewritten notes

[understanding the theological background [rewritten notes

[empire and church – the universal theme as more important than its institutional manifestation] [rewritten notes

[Church and Empire

[Dante, humanism, and atheism – the institutional separation of Church and State [Mumford

[Scholastic philosophy and the cathedrals – the practical character of scholasticism [Mumford

[Aquinas, reason and faith – making faith reasonable and reason faithful [Mumford

[the universal emperor overcoming particularism [Mumford

[universal government – principles – social animal – companionship – breaking bread – the need for the Emperor to declare and enforce law for all – convivio [authoritative force [rewritten notes

[government and social ethics – achieving unity against dissension] [rewritten notes

The new crowd in Florence [this comes later, unless as a passing reference

[church and empire – put earlier [rewritten notes

[the need for world government to deal with collective problems and achieve unity – the issue of ‘globalism.’ – a monarchy or a republic [rewritten notes

Purg 16: 84-99

Par 8: 121-129 Par 8: 139-148

Dante and the Empire – Earthly redemption

Political Peace

[introduction on Dante’s political philosophy

*[Dante’s contemporary relevance – Dante addresses problems of politics and the city, religion and theology, and ways of living [Peace Romanes

[salvation within and without as political and spiritual [rewritten notes

They make people quarrel, and then feed on the fear, anger and misery. [use this to make the point that so long as human beings are around, there will be stakes, interests and conflicts - politics

*[Dante as prophet of universal peace – the first principle of political welfare [Peace Romanes

[the political problem and its solution - the context of division

[the 14C context of political conflict [Peace and government

*[the context of political division [Peace Romanes

[political division and dissension – Dante against the rich and powerful [rewritten notes

[the diabolic forces that spell the ruination of peace – the devil is all about division [Peace on Earth

*[unity out of conflict as the central political problem - war in medieval and modern times [Peace Romanes

*[war and its resolution - Dante identified the remedy for the division and disorder of his time in the principle of universal peace and in its institutional embodiment [Peace

[the divine origins of peace – originary politics

[the emperor as guardian and tutor – the divine origins of tutelage [Peace on Earth

[the Gospel promise – peace I give you - perfect peace is the eternal bequest of God [Peace on Earth

[peace on Earth – God as eternal peace [Peace

[the peace of Eternal Light – liquid light [Peace

[the idea of Henry VII

[Dante’s affirmation of a transcendent hope and standard - world peace under the imperial authority [Peace on Earth

[the ideal political peace based on the eternal peace - the divinely-willed role of Henry [Peace on Earth

[the institutions required for the delivery of peace – Dante’s letter to Henry – the ruler is charged with securing the temporal peace [Peace on Earth

[Dante merges the figures of Augustus and Christ to justify the idea of Henry VII as the single universal Emperor who will free human beings from the political sins of cupiditas and the libido dominandi which undermine political stability and peace [Peace on Earth

[universal monarchy

[Dante’s hope for an Emperor to restore unity [Peace and government

[the need for the one supreme ruler [Peace and government

[the case for monarchy – universal government [rewritten notes

[the overarching institutional-legal framework for peace – the political supremacy of the Empire [Peace and government

[Dante on Political Peace – set out the philosophical framework first through the Convivio and other works and then elaborate in The Comedy

[authoritative and legitimate power

*[the Emperor as disinterested ruler [Peace Romanes

*[peace with justice and the power to make it authoritative and effective [Peace Romanes

*[the universal emperor as the power to enforce but is bound by the transcendent ideal and by law [Peace Romanes

[veltro – law as the earthly reformer [rewritten notes

[this belongs in The Comedy. The challenge is to avoid conflating all the material together to avoid an overly long and repetitive book.

Inf 1

[the connection between political peace on Earth and the eternal peace of Heaven – essentialist metaphysics [Peace and government

[the habitus for rational freedom

[the empire creates the habitus for ethics as the rational science [rewritten notes

*[peace as condition of human fulfilment – the habitus of rational freedom [Peace Romanes

*[peace as the most important of all human goods, the condition of a fulfilled social life [Peace Romanes

[Dante’s essential concept of human nature, government, and public life – the proper end for human beings as social and rational beings [Peace and government

[the social philosophy underpinning Dante’s case for the supreme ruler – de Monarchia – the goal of human life [Peace and government

[the ultimate goal and first principle directing the search for unity – rationality as a defining essential human characteristic [Peace and government

[sociality as a defining essential human characteristic [Peace and government

[the social philosophy underlying the universal community – man as the companionable animal [Peace and government

[rationality and sociality leads the peace and law of the unified world polity [Peace and government

*[universal rule as differentiated public community – integrating universal and particular [Peace Romanes

[the unity of a universal ruler and the collaboration of all humankind [Peace and government

*[the universal Empire as a moral community – the moral union of all humankind [Peace Romanes

[collaboration of all humankind according to an overarching ordering principle – the need for a universal ruler [Peace and government

[the transcendent third force

[beyond politics as endless contention [Peace and government

[the way out of the endless yes/no antagonism of a self-assertive politics – the judgement to resolve conflict [Peace universal empire

[the need for a transcendent third party reconciling contending parties [Peace and government

[the political peace of the universal ruler established and maintained by law [Peace and government

[universal rule in accordance with law [Peace and government

[the universal Emperor transcends self-interest, competition, and conflict – the impersonal rational force of law [Peace universal empire

[the state as ethical agency of the universal good – politics as difference and particular interests – the disinterested ruler (comparison with Hegel) [Peace and government

[Dante’s positive ideal of peace

[peace not as absence of war but as a positive force for justice [Peace and government

*[the ideal of political peace as an object of future willing [Peace Romanes

[the ideal of world government as pertinent – the Romanes lecture on imperial peace [Peace and government

*[Dante’s enduring relevance to problems of today - a peace that enables natural growth of the diverse parts as a mutual growth [Peace Romanes

*[the danger of national rivalry leading to war [Peace Romanes

[universal monarch and democratic politics [Peace and government

*[the Middle Ages as enlightened [Peace Romanes

*[the modern ideal is not monarchical but democratic – the formation of particular wills and groupings into the one common government [Peace Romanes

[the extension of the polis to the world stage – the supreme community [Peace and government

[the single ruler to bring peace and reconciliation and to rule in justice [Peace and government

[the single ruler governs the empire as global community of law and justice [Peace and government

*[An ideal stands in need of a fulcrum of political action and social transformation in order to move the world [Peace Romanes

*[the universal ideal and its means of realization [Peace Romanes

*[economics and calculations of self-interest as the most ephemeral of ties [Peace Romanes

[Dante’s ideal beyond uncontrolled national and sectional rivalry [Peace and government

[Maritain and the perfectly ordered society [Peace and government

The Conception of Nobility

[virtue ethics and moral philosophy, supplying the modes of conduct and communities of character to give the politics of virtue substance

[nobility, virtue and wealth – place earlier [rewritten notes

[this is foundational and goes before the precise details on political society in The Comedy

[the restoration of good society as Dante’s key concern Goddard [rewritten notes

[failure of inherited virtue [rewritten notes

[virtue and goodness [rewritten notes

[teaching the virtues [rewritten notes

[the reality of the Comedy – the psychic and historic facts of life [rewritten notes

[greed for money and possessions and the constraint of law [rewritten notes

[see if this belongs below in Injustice and Avarice

[the soul as traveller in search of the right path - conv [rewritten notes

[the evils of wealth] [rewritten notes

[see if this belongs below in Injustice and Avarice

[inherited nobility [rewritten notes

[sound minds – concern with character] [rewritten notes

Inf IX: 61-63

[the positive definition of nobility [rewritten notes

Injustice and Avarice

[convivio justice, goodness and love – injustice and avarice – blinded to infinity [rewritten notes

The Comedy

[The Comedy 4 The unfinished author [rewritten notes

[the architectonics of the poem [rewritten notes

[design and structure

[the three souls – reason above all - De vulgari eloquentia [rewritten notes

[moral philosophy

[The theology of Dante – God is to be discovered in human nature – conv [rewritten notes

[action and inaction - Inf [rewritten notes

[The design of The Comedy - the outline of the narrative – continuous motion [rewritten notes

[design and structure

[the force of the narrative and power of story-telling (Andrew Simms and Tolkien) – the reality of the story [rewritten notes

[real fiction

[tripartite structure of the Comedy [rewritten notes

[the scheme of the poem [rewritten notes

[architectonics - categories and symmetry [rewritten notes

[safety, love and virtue - De vulgari eloquentia [rewritten notes

The inner music of the Comedy

[the musical model – the internal music – the need for a chapter on Dante and music, before going into the Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso

[the scope of the work [Dante and music

[central role of music in The Comedy [Dante and music

[introduction to the internal music, invocation for the symphony to come [Dante and music

[a moral architectonics possessing an inherently a musical structure [polyphony

[a moral architectonics possessing an inherently a musical structure - a musically dialectic framework [polyphony

[experience of music as spiritual [polyphony

[the inherent musical structure and symmetry of The Comedy [polyphony

Inf 3: 35-9; Par 28: 92-6 Par 28: 118 Par 32: 94-98 Inf 7: 125-26

[summary of musical structure [polyphony

[instruments – trumpet [polyphony

[locate this reference more precisely

[the architecture of the Comedy - triple rhyme [rewritten notes

[the naturalistic and humanistic realities of the story that reveal the transcendental substance – Dante’s poetic achievement] [rewritten notes

[real fiction

[the appeal of the poem – the reality of the story [rewritten notes

[the humanity of Dante – he maps the ecology of the human heart – the humanity that transcends dogma, the love that escapes reason – Francesca [rewritten notes

Inf 5: 100-107

[the gallery of portraits from Inferno to Paradise [rewritten notes

Purg VIII: 1-6

Justice

[justice as the purpose of the Comedy] [rewritten notes

[justice – introduce, but develop at length later

[the restoration of earth to Eden - the restoration of innocence after penance Com [rewritten notes

Par XXVIII: 1-18

The Journey Begins

[The Comedy – the structure – rhyme as beautiful linkage – inner music [rewritten notes

[terza rima] [rewritten notes

[this belongs with structure and design and with the internal music

2 Inferno’s Unholy Racket

[music’s distortion, inversion, and perversion in the Inferno [polyphony

[liturgy understood as inherently musical [polyphony

[reversal and diabolic parody [polyphony

Inf XXXIV.1

[Comedy – the hound that will destroy greed (the wolf) - law] [rewritten notes

Inf I: 100-105

[Dante’s mission is our journey - the right path – (Rousseau and civic society) ] [rewritten notes

[midway through life – our journey – the right road [rewritten notes

Purg xvi: 82-83

[the social nature of the journey [rewritten notes

[The influences of The Comedy – Dante funnelled everything through the first-person singular, the famous ‘I’ [from mad in hell

[the essential consistency and continuity of Dante’s thought – pol and theol [rewritten notes

[commitment to imperial authority as essential to universal government [rewritten notes

[Inferno - the ways of committing error are many [rewritten notes

[justice and truth – gateway to hell and hope] [rewritten notes

Inf III: 18

[Inferno – sighs and lamentations [rewritten notes

Inf III: 22-51

[Limbo – philosophy without God [rewritten notes

Inf IV

[Dante places himself with the greatest ancient poets [mad in hell

[Dante places himself in Limbo with the pagan poets [mad in hell [this seems to be a discussion on the limits of poetry, philosophy, and the arts

[What made Dante one of the greats [mad in hell

Dante and Averroes [not sure where to place this, the uncanonical Dante. I have put it here in relation to Limbo

[the uncanonical Dante

[Dante and Averroes [conversation

[Dante’s relation to Arab philosophers

[Dante’s rhetorical strategy - writing in the context of intellectual and religious repression

[the philosophers in Limbo

[Avicenna and Averroës at the end of canto 4 – the implication that philosophers and intellectuals form a community of rational thought outside of time and place

[Dante, the immortality of rational thought or the soul, Averroism

[Dante as uncanonical

[Hell – where it all went wrong [rewritten notes

[Exile brings objectivity [rewritten notes

[repeating a point established elsewhere

[hubris, the overeacher [rewritten notes

[Inferno – ensure order through proper role and function (Tawney) – Hell is incoherence, discord and disunity [rewritten notes

[political order – belongs in the Paradiso, with Piccarda – be concise in presentation and restrict commentary to the specific material and develop as appropriate

Inf III: 16-18

Par III: 52-57

[God’s plan of just order – Piccarda [rewritten notes

[Piccarda belongs in the Paradiso

Par III: 64-66 Par III: 76-90

THE INFERNO

Inf 3: 22-24 Inf 3: 25-30 Inf 3: 32-33 Inf 3: 44

Inf 5: 46

Inf 20: 8-9

Inf 34: 1

Inf 30: 49-50 Inf 30: 102-103

Inf 21: 139

Inf 31: 12-13

((The Inferno – the world of anti-music))

[disharmony and estrangement [sweet symphony

[the antithesis of music [sweet symphony

[to be without stars [sweet symphony

[a world of disorder and disharmony, chaos and cacophony [sweet symphony

[theme of exemplifying infernal distortion and disharmony through musical instruments [sweet symphony

[these texts will all have to be sectioned, analysed precisely and then blended together in a comprehensive re-writing

[Inferno – aural and visual effect [rewritten notes

[the anti-music of the Inferno

Inf V: 11-15

[hearing drives Dante before sight, sound before image [polyphony

Inf 1: 112-120

Inf 34: 127-31 Inf 34: 133-139

Inferno 1: 112-120

[Inferno as the realm of anti-music [polyphony

Inf 3: 22-30

[cacophony as a primary element of the infernal landscape [polyphony

Inf 3: 34-42 Inf 3: 52-54 Inf 3: 43-44

Par 10: 139-148

Inf 3: 28-29

[Inferno as the inverted parody of true music [polyphony

Inf 1: 60 61 63 64 Par 1: 76-81

[diabolic mockery cut off from the restorative quality of music [polyphony

Inf 31: 67-69

[parodic reversal [polyphony

Inf 34: 1

[reversal in the infernal dialectic [polyphony

[musical structure of infernal cacophony as perversion and distortion of true musical order [polyphony

[the infernal dialectic and inversion and alienation [polyphony

The Perils of Hell

[enclosure of Hell – the unmusic of Hell] [rewritten notes [the anti-music of the Inferno – this comes earlier

Inf VI: 13-18

[the metaphysical attributes of music - notions of true order, relations and reality [polyphony

[the distinction between musica humana and musica artificialis [polyphony

[distinction between the natural and the human, and the artificial and the instrumental [polyphony

[this belongs with ‘the metaphysics of music’ introduced earlier, but moves so seamlessly into themes of inversion, instrumentalization, and alienation that it is hard to disentangle. Put the material on Boethius’ distinction in ‘the metaphysics of music’ section and then return to it here in order to link diabolic inversion, Marxist alienation, and Weberian rationalization.

Purg 9: 144; Par 20: 22-24

[alienation as the infernal displacement of the natural by the artificial [polyphony

[musica instrumentalis [polyphony

Inf 31: 12

Inf 6: 94-99

Inf 19: 1-6

Inf 21: 136-39 Inf 22: 1-12

[externalisation and instrumentalisation of originary powers – infernal musical production [polyphony

[the inversion and perversion of sacred chants – diabolic parody – the miserere [polyphony

Inf I: 65-66

Inf 1: 53-54

Par 32: 10-12 Inferno I: 65-6 Paradiso 32: 12

[from the miserere to cooperating grace [polyphony

Inf 1: 76-78 Inferno I: 65-6 Purg 5: 22-24 Par 32: 10-12 Inf 2: 70-72 Inf I: 43 Purg 5: 24 Inf 7: 125-26 and Inf 21: 67-69

Purg 11: 85-93

[confession and salvation – need for grace [polyphony

Inf 12: 85-90

Inf 2: 61-66

Par 17: 19-27

[the textual references here will have to be linked more precisely to the analysis of the Inferno in the main text. The only way to do this will be to group the materials thematically and then read, re-write and blend in sections before putting the whole back together. It cannot be done in the abstract, only in the writing and development of an argument. The blending is in the writing.

[Inferno - Florence and politics [polyphony

[politics – put above with ‘Hell is incoherence, discord, disunity, and disorder’

Inf VI: 58-75

Dante the Taxonomist of Moral Order

[the moral infrastructure – vices and virtues – virtue ethics

[Dante and eastern thought – the virtues as qualities for living [Mumford

[Mumford and the reality of evil and the need to cultivate virtue – against frozen ideals – Dante’s true picture of human life [Mumford

[habits, virtues and sin – sin denotes a habitual lack of orientation [forgotten truth

[categories of sin – wrongdoing [rewritten notes

[Inferno – Francesca [rewritten notes [put later with the taxonomy of sin

[Francesca - the clash between emotion and dogma – to be cut off from mercy by logic [rewritten notes

Inf 4: 121-123

Inf V: 88-93 Inf V: 100-105

[Francesca] [rewritten notes

Inf 5, 90 and 106

[treachery [rewritten notes

[hell for the ‘best people’ [rewritten notes

Inf 20: 118-120

[Hell is for the great and the powerful [Dante has continued to intrigue and inspire

[The Law of retaliation – Dante and eternal retribution – Dante the champion of vengeance [mad in hell

[retribution – the contrapasso [mad in hell

[sin – violence – nature and industry – avarice [rewritten notes

Inf XI: 94-111

Inf XVI: 73-75

[sins and numerology – unity as the master concept – symmetry and harmony [rewritten notes

[sin of simony - greed [rewritten notes

Inf 19: 90-105 Inf 19 106-114

Plummeting the Depths of Hell

[sinners against nature - the usurers who committed violence against Nature and against God [rewritten notes

Inf 17: 43-55 Inf 17: 46-51 Inf 17: 70-73

Inf 19: 115-117

[universal justice – core purpose of the Com the principles of justice by which the world should be ordered and governed [rewritten notes

[sin –sorcery – the distortion of prophecy for avarice [rewritten notes

Inf 20: 10-24 Inf 20: 31-39

[sin – money from public office – the politics of climate change [rewritten notes

Inf XXI: 6 16 Inf XXI, 7-15

[Ulysses’ act of arrogance – pressing knowledge and power beyond limits [rewritten notes

Inf 27: 94-99

Inf 26: 118-120 Inf 26: 121-123 Inf 26: 125 Inf 26: 139-142 Inf 26: 19-22 Inf 26: 112-117

[Inferno – war and discord [rewritten notes

Inf 28: 1-42

[schism – Muhammad – Dante’s excessive punishment [mad in hell

[retribution – Ugolino - The Hellish nature of revenge as a self-perpetuating and self-consuming cycle [mad in hell

[the revenge of Hell – God is not here [mad in hell

[the paradox of revenge – Nietzsche, hell and hope [mad in hell

[fraud and disease [rewritten notes

Inf 29: 40-45

[towering giants – pride [rewritten notes

Inferno 31: 67 Inf 31: 70-81 Inf 31: 84-90 Inf 31: 91-93 Inf 31: 94-96

[Inferno – the frozen lake – petrification [rewritten notes

Inf 32: 1-9

[Inferno – Lucifer [rewritten notes

Inf 34: 18

Inf 30: 133-139

[Satan as lifeless and loveless – frozen [forgotten truth

[Hell as frozen – God is not here – autonomy and the modern gnosis [forgotten truth

[Hell as frozen – God is not here – autonomy and the modern gnosis - evil is a consequence of the narcissist desire to be ‘autonomous’ – the neurotic compulsion to control [forgotten truth

[Hell - Lucifer as frozen – petrification - Dante’s realistic ontology of evil [forgotten truth

[satan and hell as one’s own creation – the cruelty of a society torn apart] [rewritten notes

[Dante’s exquisite poetry of love, healing, and communion beyond political contention and retribution [mad in hell

[putting the human world under human jurisdiction – learning to do better [mad in hell

[this maybe comes as a conclusion, by way of an introduction to the better way opened up by the Purgatorio

[Satan [rewritten notes

[Lucifer embodies isolation as the ultimate and universal pain of Hell - separation from source and the overcoming isolation] [rewritten notes

[need for law and universal justice and government - truth vs realpolitik – Henry VII

[rewritten notes [this belongs in a different place – political order and authority

PURGATORY

Inf 12: 112-114

Purg. 1:4-9

((Purgatory))

[the transition from disharmonious noise to celestial sweet harmony marks humanity’s distance from and closeness to God [sweet symphony

[in the realm of hope, the souls endure their punishments with prayer and song [sweet symphony

[Purg is a creative forgetting beyond infernal notions of revenge, retribution and punishment [forgotten truth

[Purgatory – a seamless now [forgotten truth

THE PURGATORIO

[poetry comes back to life - the renewal of life [rewritten notes

Purg I: 1-12 Purg 1: 13-24

[Purgatory - the system of purgation [rewritten notes

Purg I: 40-48

3 Purgatorio: Musical Liturgy as Phamakon

[fluctuating between flesh and spirit – music as friendship between body and soul [polyphony

[musical therapy as rehabilitation [polyphony

[the human questions of the Purgatorio [rewritten notes

[Purgatorio – process of rebuilding = active obedience to the Law [rewritten notes

[fellowship in penitence [Purgatory as a place of re-connection, solidarity, and movement

[music as diversion – the Siren – and music as pharmacology [polyphony

Purg: 19: 19-36 Purg 1: 1-12

[The educative aspect of music is demonstrated by the two songs of the Siren [sweet symphony

[the process of purification sheds the weight of sin [sweet symphony

[twofold character of music – the deceptive and the salvific [polyphony

[three categories of musical material 1) deceptive 2) healing 3) angels [polyphony

[deceptive songs – Casella’s song as siren song – Ulysses [polyphony

Purg 2: 112

Purg II: 46

Purg 31: 44-45

Purg 29: 22-23

Purg 30: 130-32

[The three components of musica humana - soothing, worshipping, and educative/training/teaching [sweet symphony

((Casella’s song))

Purg 2: 106-114 Purg 2: 115-117 Purg 2: 118-123

Purg 2: 43-51

[music can be so sweet as to divert attention from the message or true purpose

[Moral purpose takes precedent over aesthetic delight [sweet symphony

[Casella

Purg 2: 112-114 Purg 2: 120-122

Purg VII: 121-123

Purg XI

Purg 21: 58-66

Purg 14: 82-84 Purg 14: 86-87 Purg 14: 91-96

[music can induce spiritual inattention – Mars and music [polyphony

Purg 19: 16-24 Inf 3: 95-6 Purg 19: 22-24

Purg 2: 120-133

Purg 2: 13-18, also 22-24

[prayers are sung in the Purgatorio [polyphony

[singing in Purgatory performs the function of spiritual purification [polyphony

[impact of music on mental and physical health [polyphony

[impact of music on mental and physical health – medicine for the soul and spiritual discipline [polyphony

[Healing Songs: Music as Pharmakon [polyphony

[healing songs in the Purgatorio - Psalms [polyphony

[musical medication in the Purgatorio [polyphony

[In exitu Israel de Aegypto [rewritten notes

Purg I: 28-33

Purg 5: 24

Purg 9: 140

[The movement of souls is accompanied by the sound of the sweet harmony of sacred song – in exitu [sweet symphony

[Purg – In exitu - liberation of the Israelites from captivity in Egypt – liberation from a state of sin [polyphony

Purg 2: 46-48

[the Purgatorio – Purgation as a learning experience [rewritten notes

[sharing in the highest good - Dante’s vision of a common humanity [rewritten notes

Purg 15: 44-45 Purg 15: 46-57 Purg 15: 61-63 Purg 15: 64- 75 Purg 15: 76-78

[purg – The moral architectonics of The Comedy [rewritten notes

[movement - the dynamics of the heavenly journey [rewritten notes [these references belong in the Paradiso

Inf 3: 22-69

Par 31: 85

Par 1: 98—99 Par 1: 103—17 Par I: 124—26 Par I: 139-140 Par I: 127—35

Par V: 19-24

Par VII: 121—29

Par 7: 142-144

Par XXIII: 19-21

((The limits of words))

Purg 16: 31-36

Purg 11: 1-3, 7-12

Par 15: 64-69

[Dante establishes words and money as alternative currencies connecting people and places in different ways [sweet symphony

[The idea of words functioning as guides [sweet symphony

[Prayers move the greater love of divine justice [sweet symphony

[Dante affirms the unity of words and music - giving expression to inner feeling [sweet symphony

[Purg – overcoming sinful innate tendencies - The redemptive doctrine of Purgatory [rewritten notes

[Purgatorio - the ascent requires both human effort and divine support - the levitational "God-ward" pull [rewritten notes [free will and moral choice

Purg 3: 121-23

Purg 33: 143-45

[Purg – free choice and its abuse[rewritten notes

Purg 16: 65—90

Purg 25: 37—78

Purg 16: 85—90

Purg 25: 70—71

[Purgatory - free will – the cause of decline – cultivation of virtue – a free necessity] [rewritten notes

Purg 14

Purg 16: 46-51 Purg 16: 52-63 Purg 16: 64-66 Purg 16: 67-72 Purg 16: 73-84 Purg 16: 82-83 85-120 Purg 16: 97-102 Purg 16: 103-120

[the cause of evil – the power of discernment between good and evil – the supreme good [rewritten notes

Purg 16: 46-48 Purg 16: 58-61 Purg 16: 58-63 Purg 16: 67-78 Purg 16: 79-84

[the need for law and the supreme good [rewritten notes [the politico-institutional architectonics supporting the moral infrastructure of free choice and personal responsibility

Purg 16: 85-96 Purg 16: 97-102 Purg 16: 103-114 Purg 16: 127-129

[nature and nurture – the human appetite requires education - permanence and power – restraint of law, guidance by ethical models [rewritten notes

[empire and papacy[rewritten notes

Purg 15

[the right focus of love – proper use of worldly goods – love directed to right and wrong objects] [rewritten notes

Purg 14 Purg 17 Purg 18 Purg 18: 19-21 Purg 18: 40 Purg 18: 21-38

[insubstantial nature of soul beyond philosophy [rewritten notes

[Purg - art as ennobling but as requiring anchoring – poetry pointing the way to sacred truth [rewritten notes

Purg 28: 139-43 Purg 28: 145-147

Purg 29: 43-57 Purg 29: 64-65 Purg 29: 96-98

A New Dawn

[purg – peccatum, sin - need for guidance and instruction [rewritten notes

[purg – song – salve regina [rewritten notes

[the singing of hymns at evening-tide in the Valley of the Kings [sweet symphony

[the Salve Regina [sweet symphony

[Salve, Regina in the valley of the princes [polyphony

Purg VII: 82-84 VII: 93 VII: 112-13

Purg VIII: 1-18

((hymns))

Purg 7: 79-84

Purg 7: 13

Purg 8: 10-24

Purg 12: 112-144

Purg 9 139-141

Purg 9: 139-145

Purg 27:8-9

Purg 12: 115-120

Purg 28: 1-21

[Te lucis ante is sung as part of a twilight mass [sweet symphony

[Te Deum laudamus [sweet symphony

[echoing the virtue of the sin that is being purged from specific souls [sweet symphony

[Beati pauperes spiritu, a hymn based on the first Beatitude, emphasising humility, coda to the sin of pride [sweet symphony

[the screech of hinges at the entrance to Purgatory proper – the opening of the door to a better world [polyphony

Purg 9: 133-45

Inf 1: 118-20

Purgatorio IX: 144

[Dante’s enduring reputation – the enduring goodness [rewritten notes [fine as a passing comment, but the estimation of Dante’s worth comes elsewhere

Natural and Rational Love

[Love – natural and rational - the natural propensity which inheres in all created things – Conv [rewritten notes [this relates back to the moral anthropology established earlier through the Convivio. The problem is one of structure. A short book would group the materials thematically and cover them one by one – ethics, nature, politics, relations etc. I think it best to combine a chronological order with respect to Dante’s works and then The Comedy. That creates problems of repetition.

[Purg – the arrangement of the sins – love is the seed of every virtue and every vice – the ordering and direction of love – the distinction between natural and rational love [rewritten notes

Purg 17: 85-87 Purg 17: 91-96 Purg 17: 97-105 Purg 17: 106-111 Purg 17: 113 Purg 17: 115-123 Purg 17: 126 Purg 17: 127-132

Purg 18: 13-15 Purg 18: 19-48 Purg 18: 49-60 Purg 18: 61-66 Purg 18: 67-75

[the educative role of Virgil [rewritten notes

[purgation as a regaining of the right order of being - proper direction [rewritten notes

[Paradise - poem as a song of praise] [rewritten notes [this is more of a general comment on Dante’s ‘sacred poem’ and doesn’t belong in close analysis – or link it to the promise of concord at the close of the Purgatorio

Par 1: 1-3

[transcendence – fulfilment beyond restraint and containment – proper direction and use of energies and heroic models [rewritten notes

Beatrice - The Christian Sibyl

[Beatrice [rewritten notes

Purg 30: 31-39 Purg 30: 49-54 Purg 30: 55-57 Purg 30: 103-117 Purg 30: 119-120 Purg 30: 125-127 Purg 30: 130-132 Purg 30: 133-135 Purg 30: 136-138 Purg 30: 139-145

Purg 31: 28-30 Purg 31: 34-36 Purg 31: 37-51 Purg 31: 49-57

[the Earthly Paradise – justice and the human potential – last cantos of Purg [rewritten notes

[theological virtues – the Griffin – liberation from the three beasts

Purg 31: 122

[justice and its restoration – the Gryphon] [rewritten notes

[church and empire - God's plan of justice – the Gryphon]

Purg 32: 48

Purg 32: 37-42 Purg 24: 115-17

Purg 33: 52-63

Purg 32: 48 Purg 32: 52-60 Purg 32: 61-63 Purg 32: 43-45 Purg 109-59

[the final song sung by the penitent souls at the boundary of Purgatory, just before the entrance to the Garden of Eden [polyphony

Purg 25: 121-123

[Beatitudes and the Songs of the Earthly Paradise [polyphony

Purg 17: 64-9

Purg 19: 49-51

Purg 22: 4-6

Purg 24: 151-4

Purg 27: 55-9

Purg 28: 7-18

[Purg 30 - the penitential struggle is over – time for joy – the harmony of the polyphonous landscape [polyphony

Purg 30: 144-45

Purg 30: 85-99

Purg 27: 139-142

Purg 31: 127-144

[music beyond mortal understanding - announcing the qualitatively different nature of the music to be enjoyed in Paradise [polyphony

Purg 32: 61-63 Purg 32: 89-90

[Concordia [polyphony

Purg 16: 19-21

Purg 22: 4-6

[the connection between food and drink as divine nourishment and singing - the nourishing bread of angels [polyphony

Purg 32: 5; Purg 32: 2; Purg 31: 127-9 Purg 31: 127-129

[where Christ is a Roman - Beatrice’s role in the narrative is also to predict Dante’s ultimate salvation [rewritten notes

Purg 32: 100-102 Purg 32: 103-108

((The mystic procession))

Purg 83-84

Purg 30: 82-99

Purg 12: 112-144

Purg 31: 94-99

[In te, Domine, speravi’ [sweet symphony

[the sweet sounds of song evoking a longing for salvation and offer the distinct prospect of its possible attainment [sweet symphony

[Paradise – Plato creation of the universe [rewritten notes [locate this passage from the Timaeus properly – it belongs with notions of tempering and order and section on ‘the attuning of the sky’ below

Prelude to Paradiso

PARADISE

((the challenge of the Paradiso))

Par 2: 1-7

Par 3: 52-54

Par 3: 70-87

[the Paradiso is the least read and most difficult [sweet symphony

[Dante was sailing into new seas in more than the physical sense – the geography of the soul [sweet symphony

[the theological questions of Paradise [rewritten notes

[the paradiso as the most challenging – emphasis on experience [rewritten notes

Par 28

Par. 2.112-14

Par 1: 70-72

[Paradise – the most demanding and rewarding [rewritten notes

[sacred poem transformation as transposition and transfiguration [rewritten notes

Par 2: 1-6 Par 2: 10-18

Par 5: 103-105 Par 5: 109-114 Par 5: 115-120

Par 2: 19-21

[Dante’s impossible transgression - he is going to see the face of God [sweet symphony

[bread of angels - Dante draws all the threads together [this all needs to be blended together in the re-writing

[the infinite in the Paradise] [rewritten notes

Par 1: 88-141

[Paradise remote – but here we see the pattern take final form] [rewritten notes

[the contemplation of the beyondness of things [rewritten notes

Par 30: 38-42 Par 30: 100-132 Par 30: 121-123

Par 31: 25-51

[Par – the musical universe is held together by the cross [forgotten truth

((possibility of vision transcending senses))

[visions could be corporeal, intellectual and spiritual or intellectual [rewritten notes

[Augustine’s distinction between our present knowledge of God and a paradisal vision [rewritten notes

[the sacramental significance of a reality that is beyond the capacity of human expression [rewritten notes

Paradiso: The Attuning of the Sky

[the musical model comprising musical metaphors [polyphony

[words and music move us into the silence [polyphony

[the idea of a heavenly harmony setting a template for harmony on Earth [polyphony

[Dante and the music of the spheres [polyphony

[the moral, philosophical, and psychic significance of musical metaphors - a vision of reconciliation within a polyphonic soundscape [polyphony

[polyphony as an allegory of harmony on Earth [polyphony

[polyphony is Paradise - Glaucus [polyphony

Par I: 67-72

[Music the tightrope between the physical plane and the metaphysical plane [polyphony

Par 1: 73-81 Par 1: 82-84 Par I: 76-8

[The interimbrication of myriad references to polyphonic performance throughout the Paradiso constitute a complex musico-moral architectonic [polyphony

[the opening to Paradiso - Polyphony as Political Harmony - The two summits of Parnassus symbolize divine wisdom and human knowledge and the need for both [polyphony

Par 1: 1-12 Par 1: 16-18 Par 1: 22-42 Par 1: 13-15

Beatrice in Paradise

[Par – the poetry of spiritual gravitation [rewritten notes

Par 1: 103-141

[Paradise – principles – formative principle [rewritten notes

Par 1: 127-141

Par 3: 10-18

Par 2: 85-138 Par 2: 85-87

Par 1: 127-141

Par 2: 133-138 Par 2: 139-141 Par 2: 142-148 Par 2: 70-71

[the end of natural law – dangers of transgression [rewritten notes

[forbidden knowledge

Par 28: 115-116

Par 13: 1-18 Par 13: 19-21 Par 13: 22-24

Par 1: 49-57

Trasumanar

[Dante and transgression [rewritten notes

[Paradise as a realm beyond the normal senses [polyphony

Par I: 1-5

[trans-humanizing experience is beyond language, intellect, and imagination – the failure of words [polyphony

Par 1: 70-72

[The structure of the poem - Paradise – doctrine and example – the basic principles of the Comedy [rewritten notes [check where this belongs

((The sweet symphony of Paradise))

Par 1: 70-72

Par 21: 59

Par 1: 73-81 Par 1: 82-84

Par 7: 1-9

Par 6: 124-126 Par 6: 115-126

Par 1: 103-126

Par 15: 64-69

Par 29:13-15

Par 15: 61-63

Par 1: 4-12

Par 19: 98-99

[Dante’s ‘trasumanar,’ or transcendence above normal human experience [sweet symphony

[the instances of music increase in their frequency and beauty [sweet symphony

[attunement through the celestial music [sweet symphony

Piccarda

[Par – Piccarda - bringing truth to light – love and accord – wills made as one in the love of God [rewritten notes

Par 3: 1-6

[the cosmology of the Paradiso furnishes the canticle with its structural, moral, and aesthetic principle – orderliness [rewritten notes

Par 1: 103-105 Par 1: 103-26

[voluntary submission is peace - Piccarda [rewritten notes

Par 3: 64-66

[equality and hierarchy – diversity and unity [rewritten notes

Par 2: 112-123

Par 3: 79-87 Par 3: 86 Par 3: 68-69 Par 3: 70-90 Par 3: 85-87

[Par – Piccarda – all souls share beatitude to the extent of which each are capable [rewritten notes

Par 4: 37-48 Par 6: 124—26

Par 2: 139-40

[Par – freedom of the soul – intellectual love of God [rewritten notes

Par 4: 109-114 Par 4: 115-123 Par 4: 124-138 Par 4: 139-142

Par 27: 88-96

Par 30: 70-75

Par 2: 19-21

[venus and diversity [rewritten notes

Charles Martel

[The opening to Paradiso weaves the political, ethical, and theological components of the poem and of life together [polyphony

[harmonic unity through plurality and polyphony [polyphony

Par 8: 16-21 Par 8: 57 Par 8: 127-135

[polyphony brings different voices together as one - Charles Martel, Dante’s exemplar of the good ruler, is introduced by a simile based on an organum [polyphony

Par 8: 28-30

[Dante the city man – Charles Martel – the city where Christ is a Roman - difference is required in the social sphere as it is in the metaphysical [rewritten notes

Par 8: 94-111 Par 8: 112-14 Par 8: 115-17 Par 8:118-20 Par 8: 121-26 Par 8.125-26 Par. 8.125-26 Par 8: 133-35 Par 8: 145-48 Par 8: 127-135 Par 8: 34-39

[Boethian view of diverse voices joining together in harmonic unity - the idea harmony as political allegory [polyphony

[the musical model reconciles seemingly irreconcilable elements in justice – dance of the theologians – the double merry-go-round of rainbows – the two garlands [polyphony

Par 12: 10-21

Par 10: 146

Par 12: 22-7

Dante the Propagandist for Empire

[Dante’s Roman apologetics [Mumford

[Par – political intent [rewritten notes

Par 6: 1-9

[Justinian - the harmony that reigns among the different levels of beatitude - different voices rendering sweet harmony [polyphony

Par 6: 118-26 Par 6 121

[Dante balances individual speech and a greater harmony [Dante and music

[Par – politics – the embrace of the city walls [exile attempts to reconstitute community – Justinian [rewritten notes

Par 17: 55-66

Justice

[Politics and ideal justice – law and justice - Love Justice Ye Who Judge the Earth [rewritten notes

Par 19: 7-12 Par 19: 1-6 Par 19: 22-27

Inf 14: 5-6 Inf 30: 70-72 Inf 3: 4-6

[the virtuous unbaptized [rewritten notes

Faith, Hope and Love

[faith, hope and love [rewritten notes

Par 26: 46-48 Par 26: 49-51 Par 26: 55-66 Par 26: 67-69 Par 26: 70-81

The Creation

[creation of the universe [rewritten notes

Inf 3. 21

[poetic transcriptions of contemplative truth - God’s glory manifests itself in the Empyrean [forgotten truth

[the acute point of light – Dante ascends to the Ninth Heaven, which whirls to unite with the Empyrean - put earlier [rewritten notes

Par 28: 40-42 Par 28: 61-78 Par 28: 79-87

[Paradise beyond nature and earthly physics [rewritten notes

Par xxvii: 67-69

Par 9: 7-12

((Song and dance))

[Dante connects music with dancing [sweet symphony

[ascending levels of joy, chanting verse and praying as a choral dance, accompanied by and in time and tune with music ever more sublime [sweet symphony

[polyphonic setting give a complexity but the texts are expressed in simple words - switch from words to music [sweet symphony

[Nietzsche and Schopenhauer – music more penetrating than poetry [expression of nature

[add Mahler here – music conveys the sound of the universe] [expression of nature

[the heavenly music of Paradise surpasses earthly music [sweet symphony

[heavenly polyphony as a sweet symphony of unity out of diversity [sweet symphony

[Sweet sound, ‘sweet desire’ [sweet symphony

[Paradise - the canto of the sun Dante is no longer under the shadow of the Earth [rewritten notes

[Venus – the dance of the lights - the organum melismaticus [polyphony

Par 8: 16-21

[sweet harmony - the glorious wheel on the clock of singing souls [polyphony

Par 10: 139-148

[polyphony – the glorious wheel – the dance of the wise men in the heaven of the sun - singing is governed by concordance and harmony [polyphony

Par 10: 146-147 Par 10: 139-48 Par 14: 118

[Dante’s clock of singing souls is a perfect symbol of the notion of well-tempered order [polyphony

[vision of spiritual harmony - love and knowledge reconciled – rational freedom as deliverance from senseless servitude [rewritten notes

Par 10: 139-148

Par 11: 1-12

Par 12: 34-36

[creative universe – harmonization of purpose - continuous unfolding to a common end [rewritten notes

Par 13: 52-66

Par 13: 67-78

[the polyphonic fusion of voices into a unity – foreshadows the Trinity [polyphony

Par 13: 25-30

[renders the mystery of the Trinity polyphonically, as a unity in diversity – the double garland [polyphony

Par 14: 19-33

[From this juncture in the poem to the end, Dante employs polyphonic music to express what cannot be expressed by words [polyphony

Par 14: 118-123

((The music that is beyond rational comprehension))

[inadequacies of word and speech describing the divine vision [sweet symphony

[it is in performance that we experience the truth [sweet symphony

[Mensural notation is the musical system used for polyphonic music – truth accords as sweet harmony [polyphony

Par 17: 43-5 Par 6: 124-26

[Osanna Par 28 - polyphonic performance [polyphony

Par 28: 94-97 Par 28: 115-20

[the insufficiency of language, intellect, and imagination to predicate infinity requires has resort to musical metaphors [polyphony

[the capacity of music to render the unintelligible in more comprehensible form [polyphony

Par 19 Par 20

Par 14: 121-123

[entering into dimensions where verbal language is unable to articulate the poet-pilgrim’s exalted vision [polyphony

[Musical metaphors and imagery therefore serve as a way of carrying a truth and a meaning that is unintelligible to the rational mind – preparing to receive the vision – Beatrice’s smile [polyphony

Par 21: 4-12 Par 21: 58 Par 21: 139-42

Par 22: 10-15 Par 22: 115 Par 22: 118-126 Par 22: 135 Par 22: 127

Purg 9: 131-132

Par 23: 43-4 Par 23: 46-48 Par 23: 55-63

Par 24: 19-27 Par 24: 13-18

((Beyond the limits of speech))

Par 33: 55-63

Par 26: 130-138

Par 29:82 Par 29: 70-90 Par 29.91-96 Par 29: 121-126

Par 1: 70-72 Par 1: 73-81 Par 1 82-84

Par 8: 28-39

Par 10: 73-87 Par 10: 132 Par 10: 139-48

Par 12: 6-9

Par 14: 19-39 Par 14: 118-129 Par 14: 124-126 Par 14: 127-129

Par 23: 97-102 Par 23: 103-111 Par 23: 112-114 Par 23: 129 Par 23: 130

Par 24: 10-18 Par 24: 19-27

Par 33: 133-145

[Without a message to convey, there is no language worthy of the name [sweet symphony

[Language is always pointing to something beyond itself [sweet symphony

[wilful distortion of the word - Preachers become peddlers of clever words and false pardons [sweet symphony

[Dante goes beyond words and metaphor to portray reality through visual symbols and music [sweet symphony

[the eagle symbol - Dante states the central problem of political philosophy – how to reconcile particular interests within a political community [sweet symphony

[To soar beyond the human [sweet symphony

[Music draws us into a world beyond our immediate senses and rational comprehension [sweet symphony

[contemplation more than human [sweet symphony

[the holy circle responds in wheeling and wondrous song [sweet symphony

[‘Arise’ and ‘Conquer’ [sweet symphony

[Gabriel's song to Mary surpasses any earthly melody [sweet symphony

[Dante describes the coronation of the Blessed Virgin in terms of a ‘circling music’ [sweet symphony

[Heaven as a realm of song and dance, a realm so divine, so perfect and pure, that it exceeds the powers of human imagination [sweet symphony

[The Regina Celi [sweet symphony

[the geometer [sweet symphony [all of this will have to blended properly, line by line, according to particular texts and references

[the Triumph of the Virgin – the circular melody [polyphony

Par 23: 91-102 Paradiso XV: 4

Par 23: 103-129 Par 23: 97-98

Par 24: 113-14

[the vision that transcends an earth-bound sense-experience and the need to circumvent the limitations of language [polyphony

Par 23: 61-63 Par 23: 110

Par 24: 97-111

[physical and moral centre [poem of arranged intermediaries – sacred poem inspired by Heaven and Earth [rewritten notes

Par 23 to 33 Par 23: 61-63

[theology and music - the power to inspire hope – the wish to come home after the long, hard years of exile [polyphony

Par 25: 1-9

[theological examination at the hands of St Peter, St James, and St John [polyphony

Par 24-26 Par 25: 130-135

[recognition of limits – to be modest within the gifts of created being [rewritten notes

Par 29

[Paradise – the petals of a rose [rewritten notes

Par 22

Eternal Love and Light

((Conclusion – the musical journey))

[Music measures the distance to which we are estranged from or close to God. [sweet symphony

[from the cacophony to sweet harmony [sweet symphony

[complete harmony through perfect union [sweet symphony

Liquid Light

[Dante's conception of God as light and God as liquid

((Music as liquid light))

Par 5: 5-6

Par 20: 73-78

Par 1: 103-111 Par 1: 115-126 Par 1: 112-114

[the still, silent spiritual centre of it all – silence [sweet symphony

[heartleap [sweet symphony

[the fluid vision of Eternal Light in Heaven [sweet symphony

[the instinct that carries every part of creation to its appropriate haven [sweet symphony [sweet symphony

[combining intellect and love in the One [sweet symphony

[Par – love and knowledge – intellectual light [rewritten notes

Par 28: 3

Par 30: 39-42

Par 29: 14-18 Par 29: 21 Par 29: 22-30

[punto – the point that overwhelms Par 12 and 30 [polyphony

Par 29: 8-9

Par 30: 10-12

Par 32: 52-54

Par 33: 91-96 Par 33: 100-105

[the ascent into the sphere of the unintelligible [polyphony

Purg 28: 59-60

((the end of the poem – into the light – the failure of geometry))

Par 33:124-32 Par 33: 133 Par 33: 133-138

Par 27: 106-114 Par 27: 1-9

Par 30: 37-60

Par 1: 1-3

Par 3: 1-3

Par 21: 79-90

Par: 30: 97-123

Par 31: 22-30

Par 33: 52-57 Par 33: 85-90 Par 33.85-87 Par 33.130-31 Par 33.143-45 Par 33: 91-93 Par 33: 97-108 Par 33: 115-123 Par 33: 124-138 Par 33: 139-145

[his sight comes to be ‘absorbed’ in the Eternal Light [sweet symphony

[squaring the circle [sweet symphony

[recognition of the limits of our knowledge [sweet symphony

[a message that transcends language [sweet symphony

[the missing meaning - Meaning is missing in the world as described by many a science - The more comprehensive the meaning, the less comprehensible it is. [sweet symphony

[numerology – Trinity as the perfection of the number three [polyphony

Par 28: 22-42 Par 28: 7-9

[trinity – unity of reason and faith [rewritten notes

Par 24: 128-129 Par 24: 130-132 Par 24: 133-138

Par 26: 25-39 Par 26: 40-48

[there is a lot of scope in this chapter for the discussion of the ceaselessly creative universe and the role of human beings as co-agents in creation. I have extensive text on that. It may be better to leave it for a separate section and keep to the narrative flow of the poem now the end is near. Better still, place the chapter on the ‘creative universe’ earlier in terms of a theological discussion on disclosure and imposure

The Departure of Beatrice

[departure of Beatrice – unity in diversity [rewritten notes

Par 29: 130-145

[Par – a new force – perceptions beyond the rational and beyond imaginative and creative powers [rewritten notes

Par 30: 56-57 Par 30: 55-60 Par 30: 61-66

Par 33: 1-15 Par 33: 46-48

[Paradise – difficulties of approaching transcendence – making the intangible vision tangible [rewritten notes

[mystics Reynolds [rewritten notes

[Primum Mobile – model and copy – from time to eternity – intellectual light and love [rewritten notes

Par 28: 16-39 Par 28: 40-45 Par 28: 46-57

Par 30: 38-42 Par 30: 43-54 Par 30: 55-60 Par 30: 61-69 Par 30: 70-72 Par 30: 78-79 Par 30: 80-81 Par 30: 85-87 Par 30: 88-90 Par 30: 91-99 Par 30: 95, 97, 99

[the divine glory that is reflected back through the universe – the return to origins [rewritten notes

Par 1: 1-3

Par 30: 137-38

[imaginative collaboration – making meaning – to gaze lovingly – the happiness of creation [rewritten notes

[music on Mars [rewritten notes

((the spiritual centre of the universe – the end of Paradise))

[Blinded by the light in the ninth heaven, Dante comes to see that God is the true author of the cosmos [sweet symphony of paradise

[Dante sees the universe smile [sweet symphony of paradise

[God is love, a revelation that restores Dante’s sight [sweet symphony of paradise

[Primum Mobile - Love is the spiritual centre of the universe [sweet symphony of paradise

[a stadium for all the beautiful souls, a rose [sweet symphony of paradise

[The closer Dante comes to God, the simpler his language becomes. He comes to God, who is threefold light in a singular star [sweet symphony of paradise

[The crown and climax of the Comedy is Dante's vision of the Trinity. [sweet symphony of paradise

[The entire universe is contained in all its diversity in God. [sweet symphony of paradise

[Dante now comes face to face with God the Creator [sweet symphony of paradise

[will and desire were turned by the circular motion of divine love [sweet symphony of paradise

The Vision of the Trinity

[purpose – to bring people to the state of happiness – Trinity [rewritten notes

Par 33: 55-57 Par 33: 58-66 Par 33: 67-75

[Trinity the climax - mystical vision – transcendence – the divine light – squaring the circle Reynolds [rewritten notes

Par 33: 79-81 Par 33: 82-84 Par 33: 85-90 Par 33: 91-93 Par 33: 91-96

Par 33: 97-99 Par 33: 100-108 Par 33: 124-126

Par 24: 139-147

Par 33: 109-114

Par 24: 153

Par 33: 115-20

Par 24: 145-147

Par 33: 127-132 Par 33: 133-138 Par 33: 144 Par 33: 140-145

PARADISE AND LOVE

((heartleap - love as the unifying force))

Par 33: 91-93

Par 30: 37-42

Par 139-148

Par 6: 118-126

Par 8: 85-90

[the heartbeat of the supreme union that brings diverse voices together to reconcile differences and resolve divisions [sweet symphony

[Love permeates the multitude of spheres constituting the universe [sweet symphony

[the music of the universe, the heartbeat that unifies all the diverse phenomena of life [sweet symphony

[the Love that brings eternal joy [sweet symphony

[Dante’s achievement is to have integrated the two conceptions of God, the God of physical creation and the God of Love and personal relationships. [sweet symphony

[real knowledge is a recollection of truths once known but lost and yet still held unconsciously [sweet symphony

[reconciliation of the paradoxes and perplexities of our perspectivism lay in the realisation that the greatest profundity is simplicity: 'simplicitas Dei', [sweet symphony

((conclusion on love as the answer))

[the power to move and turn [sweet symphony

[Love as the unmoving centre of the universe which moves all things [sweet symphony

((if love is the answer – then what is love?))

((conclusion – love is the answer – what is love?))

[Dante succeeds in putting the two concepts of God together, the God of physical creation and the God of human relationships, the impersonal and the personal [sweet symphony

[the journey reunites to the source of Love [sweet symphony

Epilogue

[power of Dante as poet [rewritten notes

Poetry as real – the power of Dante’s poetry

[the poem as work of art – Dante as storyteller – the power of words [rewritten notes

Par 33: 67-75

[reality and belief – truth [rewritten notes

[real fiction [rewritten notes

SACRED POEM – THE REAL AND THE RATIONAL

((a sacred poem beyond fiction – real and rational))

Par 23: 61-63

Par 25: 1-9

Purg 17: 13-18

Inf 1: 1-12

Par 33: 67-75

[Dante’s religious and metaphysical concerns [sweet symphony

[beyond words and music to the spiritual centre of the universe [sweet symphony

[Dante’s tale unfolds within concrete reality within rational and moral parameters [sweet symphony

[Dante succeeds in maintaining the real and the rational in close relation right until the very moment he brings us to the sight of God [sweet symphony

((sacred poem – the real over the fictional))

[the purpose of Dante’s musical poetry is to turn the reader [sweet symphony

[poetic fiction and imagination and reality [sweet symphony

((the impossibilities of Paradise))

[Dante does not make it easy at all for us, and makes no compromises [sweet symphony

((the impossibilities of Paradiso – Wilde vs Beckett))

((the impossibilities of Paradise – Dante’s invention))

[a realistic fiction that is grounded in facts [sweet symphony

[impossibilities are not just philosophic and scientific, they are scriptural and theological [sweet symphony

((the impossibilities of Paradise – Dante’s devotion to impossibility))

Par 1: 22-24

Par 7: 136-144

Par 1: 1-3

Par 1: 103-111

[a brilliant work of metaphorismatics [sweet symphony

((Paradise beyond reason))

[beyond language [sweet symphony

[beyond the written form [sweet symphony

6 Conclusions [use these conclusions by way of introduction to the musical structure of The Comedy

[the innate music of the Comedy – the structural relevance of musical references [polyphony

[Dante’s journey through cacophonic, monophonic, and polyphonic landscapes possesses an inherently musico-moral structure [polyphony

[the diabolic music of the Inferno, healing in Purgatory, and emanation in Paradise [polyphony

[The Comedy proffers a system of musical mediation [polyphony

[the transition from cacophony to monophony and finally to polyphony is a therapeutic process [polyphony

[Dante’s unity as polyphonic [polyphony

The diabolic and the symbolic [polyphony

Musical Instruments as Allegory [polyphony

THE DANTEUM [this material is difficult to integrate within a text organised around the flow of Dante’s own narrative. This works better as a separate essay in relation to notions of a properly ordered polity. This comes after a presentation of Rational Freedom and the well-tempered Political Order

((Danteum – Medievalism, the Hierarchical order and Fascism))

[the organisational infrastructure of the Comedy are set out in some detail in the first book of the Monarchia [sweet symphony

[divine unity of being [sweet symphony

[idea of a functional order arranged in accordance with social purpose [sweet symphony

[structure of medieval society, authority, hierarchy [sweet symphony

[Dante as the culmination and transcendence of the Middle Ages – the maker of the modern world – Dante the transgressor with respect to limits and withholding judgement

[order and hierarchy – against frozen music – Dante as subversive with respect to medieval hierarchy and elitism]

[discerning the doctrine behind the lines

[medieval order and its subversion - the hierarchical macro-structure of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven - The Last Judgment is about exposing the hypocrisy of evil, not creating a balance sheet for sin and expiation

((The Danteum))

[unity and commonality in building the social architecture of the perfect society [sweet symphony

[Roman Empire as an ethical agency bringing unity and order on earth [sweet symphony

[Paradise is a vertiginous height [sweet symphony

[the moral infrastructure [sweet symphony

((The Danteum – the petrification of Paradise))

[The stellar prison fixates vision on scientific proof and necessity, the laws and imperatives of the physical universe [sweet symphony

[immobile world of science/numbers is a frozen construction [sweet symphony

((the Danteum – the freezing of the music))

[the balancing of the elements in this accordance or attunement [sweet symphony

((frozen music as immobility of the Inferno – Paradise as music, light and love – critique of the Danteum))

[the balance between morality, music and architecture [sweet symphony

[Dante as the equivalent of Bach’s universalism [conversation

[Dante – the poetic equivalence of Bach – put with Bach above [conversation

[against Dante as ‘frozen music’ – against the tuneless noise of sculpture and architecture as mechanized form without content [conversation

the unfreezing of Dante, the detheologizing and denumbering of Dante rather than the deconstructing [conversation

[music and stone – unfreezing the music [conversation

GOD [this material is difficult to integrate within a narrative organised around Dante’s poem. This works better as a separate essay relating to God and cosmology. The one Dante book cannot support extensive commentary like this. The solution is to either issue this as a separate book or add them as streamlined chapters at the end of the book as ‘implications and applications.’

((two concepts of God))

Par 22: 127-132

Par 33 142-146

Par 33: 124-136

[the Einsteinian "God" [epic vision

[God as the source of all physical motion in the universe and God as the source of love [sweet symphony

((putting fact and value together))

[accumulation of means and quantities, diminution of meaning – the capital system [sweet symphony

[naturalism, evolutionary biology and psychology [sweet symphony

[the human truth of ‘why’ [sweet symphony

[survival, Camus, judging whether life is or is not worth living [sweet symphony

[successful living for the meaning seeking creature [sweet symphony

[Unity requires difference. - supreme unity is constituted out of diversity and values otherness [sweet symphony

[from agnosticism with respect to the good to indifference - rights are grounded in nothing but self-assertion [sweet symphony

[apocalypse as crisis in the way we use language and signs [forgotten truth

[forgiveness, judgement, power - Scepticism and relativism invite fundamentalism and judgment [forgotten truth

[the figure of Belacqua - a monument to scepticism between good and evil [forgotten truth

[enduring relevance of Dante beyond skepticism [forgotten truth

[impossibilities of living in the sceptical condition of Beckett’s world – you cannot live in indefinite postponement [sweet symphony

[Turning involves the transformative power of Love. [sweet symphony

[two concepts of God – fact and value - scientific knowledge has become the dominant conception of reason and rationality – morality relegated to irreducible value judgements [sweet symphony

[disenchantment and despiritualization [sweet symphony

Creator God or Natural Creativity?

[Dante’s great achievement is to have liberated the religious instinct and the quest for meaning from the perils of indoctrination, from adherence to dogma and mechanical ritual and convention [sweet symphony

[love, faith, and knowledge [sweet symphony

[endlessly creative universe [sweet symphony

[need for immanence and transcendence

[the ecology of the heart’s destination [sweet symphony

[morality in an objectively valueless world [sweet symphony

[rational community of co-legislators [sweet symphony

[the true, the good, the beautiful [sweet symphony

Forbidden Knowledge [Dante the transgressor – I have two sections that need to be written as one 1) forbidden knowledge; 2) the secret: against revealing the sacred. These also need to be placed somewhere in the text, in relation to human transgression, Ulysses but also Dante’s trasumanar

[the paradox of coming to know what we ought not know – the existence of things that lie beyond reason [forbidden knowledge

[Dante’s journey through forbidden territory [epic vision

[Dante’s search for knowledge beyond ordinary human knowing - experience [epic vision

[experience and hope [epic vision

[man as a rational animal – reasoning and the use of reason [forbidden knowledge

[full knowledge of things – the modern gnosis [epic vision

[the desire to know can become self-absorbing and self-destructive – Socrates and the importance of moral knowledge [forbidden knowledge

[Dante and judgment – Dante the transgressor of boundaries [forgotten truth

[Dante the transgressor in daring to know what one ought not know – the modern age as an age of transgression [forbidden knowledge

[responsibility and knowledge [forbidden knowledge

[are there things we should not know - metaphilosophy either leads us into an infinite regress or begs the question [forbidden knowledge

((the secret – against reinventing the sacred))

Par 26: 25-48

Par 21: 91-102 Par 21 103-105

Inf 26: 90-120 Inf 26: 133-142

Inf 28 43

Inf 26: 46-48

Purg 3 28-45

[the language of apocalypse is the language of dreams as distinct from the language of rational calculation – the language of existential crisis [forgotten truth

[apocalyptic language runs throughout the Comedy [forgotten truth

[the sacred beyond human invention [sweet symphony

[beyond self-choice in a world emptied of meaning and value [sweet symphony

[self-creation [sweet symphony

[ultimate values beyond choice and invention [sweet symphony

[objectivity in a creative universe [sweet symphony

[natural desire to know – knowledge beyond ordinary knowing – limits to knowing, Ulysses [sweet symphony

[esperïenza, knowledge as experience and hope [sweet symphony

[Dante the transgressor in desire to see the face of God [sweet symphony [there is a section in the main text on Dante the transgressor in pursuit of forbidden knowledge. This discussion belongs there.

[man is a rational animal – the nature of rationality [sweet symphony

[McFargue and monarchy [sweet symphony

[theological pragmatism and the monarchical model

[presumptionism [sweet symphony

[presumptionism

[Blake – art is the tree of life [sweet symphony

[Nietzsche - enveloping illusion [sweet symphony

[Nietzsche and disenchanting analysis

[philosophical reason refutes itself

[acting on our invented symbols – the ‘as if’ approach to reality

[a more active and productive orientation to the world

[every living things needs a shrouding vapour

[Socrates and self-knowledge, Frankl, behaviourism [sweet symphony

[Bacon and science [sweet symphony

[apprehending our invented symbols – living as if we knew [sweet symphony

[philosophical reason undercuts itself [sweet symphony

((fulfilment of the soul’s desire – eccentricity beyond control))

[biology and science possess ethical and political implications [sweet symphony

[directionless, purposeless evolution and the indifferent world [sweet symphony

[necessary illusion [sweet symphony

[off-centre or not placed centrally [sweet symphony

((to be in control, to be in charge))

[We should stop deifying our powers and instead start to humanize them [sweet symphony

((Be still and know))

[attunement with ‘the law of the immanence of the way’ [sweet symphony

UNITY AND DIVERSITY [this material has the risk of weighing the presentation of The Comedy down, effectively unpacking Dante’s cosmology and philosophy to lose precision and fluidity. This should be separate, as part of a philosophical discussion on the implications and relevance of Dante at the end. Alternately, I could divide the materials into two distinct books within the one, the Dante first and then ‘implications and applications’ showing the continued relevance of Dante, tying up all the themes introduced and developed throughout.

((Unity and diversity))

[unity and diversity - the universal is to be appreciated in the particular, and the particular in the universal [Dante and music

Par 1: 103-111 Par 1: 103-108 Par 1: 109-117

Par 1: 118-123 Par 1: 118-126

[the form that makes the universe resemble God [sweet symphony

[an ecology of infinite differentiation in which each thing is valued for its distinctive capacities [sweet symphony

[a world in union and in motion [sweet symphony

((Shelley – unity and diversity))

((unity through diversity))

[intertwining of the real and the rational [sweet symphony

[The divine glory is revealed in the unity through diversity [sweet symphony

((unity in diversity – the politics of the common good))

Par 3: 85-7

Par 2: 112-141

Par 6: 124-26

Par 4: 34-36

Par 3: 85-7

[each unique, individual being should participate in its own way in the divine Being [sweet symphony

[Dante’s unity of all things through infinite differentiation makes a community of life [sweet symphony

[commonwealth of virtue - [sweet symphony [this could all be summed up under the heading of political and philosophical implications and relevance. These are all effectively separate essays forming another book. It would be a grave error to write two or three books in one. Identify the structure of the one book and rewrite the materials in accordance with that. Try to pack it all in, and you overwhelm the narrative, submerge the point, and exhaust the patience of the reader. It’s very good work, though. You can always keep it to one side and issue as a separate book, a theoretical and philosophical counterpart

[a politics of Love and Justice combining the One and the Many [sweet symphony

[individuals associate together, forming communities that build up to the one commonwealth [sweet symphony

[the state or public community as the supreme community of all communities [sweet symphony

[Light reveals communion as the purpose of the journey. [sweet symphony

((functional order)) [this is where we address the implications of the cosmology in terms of political order – this requires a separate chapter, unless a streamlined version which runs the themes together is issued. This comes after a chapter on Rational Freedom, then unity and diversity, and then the polity as functional order

[the ascending theme of power and government [sweet symphony

[a humanly scaled society in which the self-organising properties of social exchange, interaction and solidarity, buttressed by communities of practices and clusters of co-operators [sweet symphony

[ordering principle - all souls are equal to each other because they are all equal to the one thing that is above them and which unites them [sweet symphony

[common end integrates unity and diversity, brings together the Many and the One, achieves the peace of one voice through diverse voices [sweet symphony

[diverse ranks coming to render sweet harmony [sweet symphony

((functional order – the just society and love divine))

[the freedom of each is coexistent with and conditional upon the freedom of all [sweet symphony

[the quest for the Just Society [sweet symphony

[Dante’s vision of a mediated society arranged in accordance with purpose and devoted to a common end [sweet symphony

[the contemporary relevance of Dante’s political treatise, De monarchia [sweet symphony

[Dante offers a diagnosis and a prognosis with respect to the forces making for moral malaise and cultural collapse [sweet symphony

((Personal and collective responsibility))

[Individuality and sociality are two sides of the same human nature, they are not an either/or. [sweet symphony

[The character of the socio-institutional fabric is therefore a crucial part of achieving responsibility and adjusting patterns of behaviour to moral, social and ecological realities. [sweet symphony

[Dante knew that human beings were social and political beings designed to live in a polis or city-state, a public community in relation to others [sweet symphony

[Politics can go so far in anchoring us in a common life and common cause [sweet symphony

[a thoroughgoing transformation that brings about the Good Society [sweet symphony

[a ‘conviction that life is unconditionally meaningful’ [sweet symphony

((Dante and Marx)) [the themes of inversion, perversion, alienation, and rationalization are traced throughout the Inferno. These are solid chapters making for a different book. The trick will be to read the key arguments from here into the main text presenting Dante.

((Rational Freedom, Right Relationships, alienation and idolatry))

[rational freedom and natural law [Marx and religion

[Marx as the realisation of rational freedom [Marx and religion

[qualifying rational freedom by way of natural law [Marx and religion

Dante and Marx [this all needs to be reworked and re-written in accordance with a clear view as to where it fits in this book. These chapters stand alone in their own right as written. The problem is that in doing so they expand the size of the book and make it unpublishable and unreadable. There needs to be a clear thread of reason and rationalization, and the materials tempered down to that narrow line. The cut material can always been issued as a separate book. In fine, the themes of inversion and alienation will be presented clearly and concisely and then developed in relation to Dante rather than as separate chunks of work themselves.

[Inferno as Capital

[Dante’s sins as capitalist imperatives

[rational freedom becomes capitalist rationalization

[Marx’s Judaeo-Christian allusions – overcoming the dichotomization of religion and science

[Marx and atheism [epic vision

[Marx and atheism [epic vision

[Marx and religion – calling back the soul [Marx and religion

[modern capital is irreligious [Marx and religion

[uprooting the social inversion behind religious illusion [Marx and religion

[the connection between Dante and Marx

[the moral dimensions of Marx’s Capital – Marx and rational freedom

[beyond the dualism of fact and value, science and religion

[Dante and Marx in exile

[the need for a supernatural ethic

[Dante and Marx as exiles able to see objectively

[the connection between Dante and Marx – Aristotle and Aquinas

[Inferno as the hell of capital – praxis and transformation in accordance with transcendent standards

[The Comedy as a quest and journey - an encyclopedia in the sense of being a circle of knowledge - architectonics

[knowledge, self-knowledge and the world we make through praxis – the alienation and inversion of the Inferno

((Reason, Culture and Transcendent Truths))

[Aquinas and the limits of philosophical reason [Mumford

[purpose beyond the scandal of reason – the value of unanswerable questions [Mumford

[reality and social construction [epic vision

[self-made self-legislating man – construction and valuation – the non-realism of the objectively valueless world [epic vision

[locating value in the endlessly creative universe [Marx and religion

[atheism as a substantive argument [Marx and religion

[the criticism of God and religion as acidic of all objective standards [Marx and religion

[reality over illusion [Marx and religion

[realism and metaphysics vs post-modernism and constructivism [power truth

[transcendent standards vs deconstruction [power truth

[bedrock metaphysical apparatus and commitment over against self-creation [power truth

[metaphysics is the scourge of relativism [power truth

[Lyotard and grand narratives – the weakening of the metaphysical apparatus brings about fragmentation [power truth

[which view offers the more plausible account of human nature and life [power truth

[Power, Powerlessness, Truth – culture war [power truth

[the connection of reason and faith in objective reality [power truth

[the values, virtues and practices necessary to achieve and sustain communities of benevolence and justice – the good society which is in accord with the true nature of reality - cannot be attained without a metaphysical basis in transcendent truths and norms [power truth

((Culture, Power, and Truth))

FREEDOM RATIONALIZED [this should go with the critique of inversion and alienation, Inferno as Capital

((Dante and Max Weber)) [sweet symphony

IDOLATRY FETISHISM [this will need to be blended in with Weberian rationalization, locating the source in alienative relationships

[rational freedom - Reason, right relationships, alienation and idolatry

[the moral failure of modernity as an incomplete secularisation [Marx and religion [against the new idols of alienated self-creation

[right relation to God

[Asymmetrical relations of domination as a sin against God

[Relations of domination and exploitation represent a negation of the other. Kant’s categorical imperative and Marx

[Dante against the ethical anthropocentrism of self-legislating reason

[God as the unifying transcendent principle capable of holding human self-legislators together

[the experiment of the directionless and destinationless voyage and the Love that seeketh not its own

[the instrumentalisation of relationships generates new idols

[alienation and idolatry

[Personal and collective responsibility - the rational reconstruction of the socio-institutional matrix within which individuals relate together and act

[the praxis of domination – sin as structural oppression

[totalizing the relative, instrumentalising the other, and divinizing the self

[personal and collective responsibility – individuals and institutions

Osip Mandelstam

[Mandelstam biography [OM

[Conversation on Dante - reflections on the nature of the poetic process [OM

[the analogical method – comparison and simile [conversation

[Dante is the Descartes of metaphor and simile [conversation

[dialogic and conversational method in the participatory universe [conversation

[Mandelstam’s essay is an elaboration of a poetics inspired by Dante [conversation [politics and poetry - repression [OM

[Mandelstam always carried Dante’s Comedy – the essentials [OM authority

[Mandelstam shared Dante’s fate in exile [OM authority

[Dante the walker in exile – Dante’s ‘endless labour’ [conversation

[Mandelstam and Dante – walkers in exile – Beethoven as walker measuring the fields and woods [OM

[posthumous fame [OM

[The Acmeists

[Acmeist school - compactness of form and clarity of expression [OM authority

[Mandelstam demands formal elegance [poetry and music

[Mandelstam’s sense of renewal and transcendence making available uncharted territory – Dante a man for all time [poetry and music

[architectonics – to craft beauty from cruel weight [OM

[Dante as the equivalent of Bach’s universalism [conversation

[Dante – the poetic equivalence of Bach – put with Bach above [conversation

[against Dante as ‘frozen music’ – against the tuneless noise of sculpture and architecture as mechanized form without content [conversation

[architectonics - form and content – the Comedy as a single unifying stanza [conversation

[Dante against mysticism and for clarity – the concern to inform and educate [conversation

[seeing with clear eyes [conversation

[poetic discourse - the mutation of instruments into harmony [conversation

[The musicality of the Italian language] [conversation

[Dante’s erudition as ‘unceasing sound’ [conversation

[knowledge beyond reason – Kant and the scandal of reason – the clash between reality and intellect [conversation

[Dante fashions the tools to deal with the challenge [conversation

[the need for metaphor to apprehend Dante’s metareal vision [conversation

[Dante’s organic holism - diversity through unity [conversation

[diversity through unity – the bee analogy – the creative universe [conversation

[Dante’s similes are never descriptive [conversation

[Dante and the natural sciences bringing us to reality – visionary materialism [conversation

[heraldic symbols – Dante a friend of painters [conversation

[The cello – diversity by way of analogy with the orchestra [conversation

Authority

[the prison – I’m not sure this is needed to a great extent [conversation

[The political world as Hell on Earth – Dante and the city - the diabolical nature of politics [conversation [link this to Dante’s notion of Hell as ‘eternal prison.’

[authority and authoritarianism – Mandelstam’s fate [OM authority

[to be herded in a herd – the compartmentalisation of atrocity and the inability to see beyond the particularity of plight [OM authority

[the aim was to destroy not merely people but hope and the idea [OM authority

[Mandelstam on authority a society properly ordered in accordance with justice [OM authority

[Dante looks forwards to a new universal authority – missiles for capturing the future [OM authority

[Dante calls to the future [conversation

[Dante’s subversive demand for a true form of authority [OM authority

[Mandelstam’s case for authority – quote [conversation

[dialogical and monological authority [conversation

[authority and diversity [conversation

[authority over the cacophony of different voices] [conversation

[Mandelstam as a love poet – the architectonic infused with love [OM

[final poems and personal crisis [OM

[renewed criticisms of Stalin [OM

[final arrest and death [OM

[to learn by experience the truth poets deliver by art [OM

[composers have set Dante to music [OM

[music as divine fullness, divine nature of music [OM

[wedding poetry and music – engaging all the senses [OM

[silence is music – word is to return to music [OM

[Bach and Beethoven - the organized resistance of the spirit against the elements, the primal abyss [OM

[the high value placed on musicality in poetry – poetry’s origins are in song [OM

[poetry – song and dance [OM

[Mandelstam didn’t just recite poems, he sang them [OM

Creative universe

[dialogue – the conversation running through The Comedy [conversation

[the experimental dance at the heart of The Comedy – refer back to natural science –

the unfreezing of Dante, the detheologizing and denumbering of Dante rather than the deconstructing [conversation

[music and stone – unfreezing the music [conversation

[Dante as conductor the master of dialogic transformation - the most powerful chemical conductor of the poetic composition [conversation

[Dante’s poetry as physics – space exists as a receptacle for amplitudes [conversation

[Dante’s dance – Paradiso as a kinetic ballet [conversation

[Dante’s puts writing on a par with painting and music [conversation

[recovering Dante, unfreezing Dante – Dante as conductor of music [conversation

[simile as articulated impulse [conversation

[Dante as the creation of impulses rather than forms [conversation

[centrality of the heart in the poetic process – transformative space [OM mythologies

[Dante’s music – the transformations of power flow [conversation

[Dante more known than understood [conversation

[link trasunamar with transformations of the heart –This ecology of the heart demarcates a transformative space. [conversation

[the centrality of the heart – poetry as a sensuous and spiritual experience [OM mythologies

[sensuous connection to the world [OM mythologies

[mythology of poetic creation – increased perception [OM mythologies

[seeing the most tragic occurrences in the light of beauty [OM

[the hellish burden of the poetic gift [OM mythologies

[Mandelstam’s fate – poetry can be fatal [OM

[Mandelstam’s last poem, This Constant Wish [OM

CLIMATE ACCORD [sweet symphony

((fire and ice – Dante’s Inferno and Max Weber’s ‘iron cage’ of capitalist modernity)) [sweet symphony

((Dante in the disenchanted world)) [sweet symphony

((Dante and Climate Accord))

((Beyond the empire of fact))

HAPPY ENDING [sweet symphony

((the human comedy – existential crisis))

((conclusion))

((happy ending – choices we make)) [sweet symphony

((Appendix – evidence of Dante’s internal music))

((musical instruments))

((musical terms))

((hymns and psalms))

((appendix on numerology))

((appendix on music and poetry))

((appendix – Dante websites))

GOD and the creative universe Creator God or Natural Creativity?

((fulfilment of the soul’s desire – eccentricity beyond control))

UNITY AND DIVERSITY

((unity in diversity – the politics of the common good))

((functional order – the just society and love divine))

RATIONAL FREEDOM

((Dante and Marx))

((Reason, Culture and Transcendent Truths))

FREEDOM RATIONALIZED ((Dante and Max Weber))

THE DANTEUM the petrification of Paradise

CLIMATE ACCORD