Aquinas and Dante: Perfecting Human Reason

Julia Caldwell Professor Albrecht Development of Western Civilization 2, February, 2013 doubting Thomas and Dante Perfecting Human Reason doubting Thomas and Dante Perfecting Human Reason Despite the fact that Dantes reader doesnt encounter St. Thomas Aquinas within the Comedia until Paradise, the flavors and teachings of Aquinas are woven passim the entirety of the famous poem. St. Thomas Aquinass cosmology and theology are used as the foundation for Dantes Comedia, and for this causation it is no strike that the experiences of the Pilgrim symbolically reflect many of Aquinass teachings.The Pilgrims experiences on his journey through the futurity reflect what Aquinas called the, two-fold truth concerning the godlike being, matchless to which the inquiry of debate can reach, the other which surpasses the whole ability of world moderateness (Summa Contra Gentiles, Handout I, 4). Dante also illustrates Aquinass conclusion that mans reason tends toward the theme of ultimate t rue eyepatch mans volition tends toward the ultimate good. The reader is able-bodied to see how Dantes will and reason search for, and finally attain, fulfillment in the vision of the Divine Essence.Both Aquinas and Dante emphasize the necessary union between human reason and divine faith as a means of attaining this fulfillment. As the instiller of these inclinations, only matinee idol Himself can satisfy them. Aquinas demonstrates this idea through his explanation of the lifelike and the divine law as they preserve to the Eternal law. Dante demonstrates this idea through the Pilgrims interactions with his guides and the culmination of his ascension in Paradise. Just as with body and soul, matter and form, there is a harmonious consanguinity between reason and faith stock-still the agents within these partnerships are not equal.Both Dante and Aquinas ac experience that human reason can assist the individual in understanding God and coinciding ones will with His will, scar ce they both conclude that this secular-based reasoning is subjugated by and and so must be perfected by theology. In Dantes Virgil the reader finds human reason personified. Being the shade of a ren makeed and wise philosopher, Virgil is a perfect candidate to guide the Pilgrim through hell and purgatory. In his own lifetime Virgil lived as a pious man and therefore attained the imperfect Earthly mirth that can be acquired through natural powers.However, as Aquinas states, every knowledge that is check to the mode of created substance, falls short of the vision of the Divine Essence, therefore Virgil is unable to reach fulfillment since he cannot ascend to Paradise (Summa Theologiae, Handout II, 12). Instead, like many of his pagan contemporaries, Virgil is doomed to spend eternity in the snake pits Limbo. He will forever yearn to know the ultimate happiness and the ultimate truth that are only found in God. As Virgil puts it himself, In this alone we suffer cut off from hope, we live in desire (Inferno, 20).Dante provides Virgil as a means of illustrating the incompleteness of human reason, whereby observing Aquinass warning. When describing the home of philosophers within Limbo Dante writes, we reached a place spread out and luminous (Inferno 22). It is fitting that this realm be characterized by light because as Aquinas states, natural reason is nothing else than an imprint on us of the Divine light (Summa Theologiae, Handout II, 13). The knowledge possessed by the philosophers comes from God Himself, or the Eternal Law.Having neer embraced the faith of God through the implementation of the theological virtues, however, Virgil is an imperfect soul. Much like Virgil, human reason is guided by the light of the Eternal Law, moreover is unperfected without the divine law. It is this very im god of Virgils nature that makes him the perfect guide for the initial stages of Dantes journey. In Virgil Dante finds a guide assailable of rationaliseing and ill uminating the abstract and rational worlds of Hell and Purgatory, but also in Virgil Dante is able to see the limits of human reason without the theological virtues.With Virgil as his guide, the Pilgrim is guided by the light of natural reason (Summa Contra Gentiles, Handout I, 2). Along his journey, however, Virgil comes to realize that his wise guide is not all-powerful. When the pair arrives at the gates of Dis in Canto 8, the Furies slam the gates of the city fold despite Virgils pleas. It is only when a holy messenger from Paradise arrives that the Furies surrender to Gods will and allow Dante and Virgil to enter. Taking this event metaphorically, reason is unable to go on further without grace. As the pair travel within the realm of Purgatory it becomes clear that Dantes uestions are becoming more of a challenge for Virgil. When Virgil is trying to explain why his shade casts no shadow, his reasoning can only goes as far as to say that his condition is, willed by that Power which wills its secret not to be revealed (Purgatory 207). Dante goes on to describe Virgils countenance as having anguished thoughts (Purgatory 207). Virgils struggle to explain the dynamics of the afterlife as the pair comes closer to Paradise reflects Aquinass conclusion that the human intellect is not able to reach a comprehension of the divine substance through its natural power (Summa Contra Gentiles, Handout I, 3).Furthermore this instance exemplifies Aquinass conclusion that human reason is able to recognize effects but is unable to explain the Ultimate Cause of these effects without faith (Summa Contra Gentiles, Handout I, 9). Virgil can see that he has no shadow, but he cannot explain the source of the original cause. Since Virgil never believed in the faith of the divine mysteries while he was still on Earth, his intellect is unable to grasp an understanding of Gods will. In conclusion, because Virgil doesnt use faith to perfect his reason, his own will can never be align ed with the will of his Creator.Virgil specifically alludes to the fault in his faith when he distinguishes between pagan and Christian prayer. He admits that his own prayers, along with the prayers of all pagans, had no access to God (Purgatory, 225). Unlike pagan prayers, which according to Virgil in the Aeneid are powerless in a universe predestined by the Fates, Christian prayers are an embodiment of human participation with the true divine. By taking part in prayer, the individual takes part in the theological virtues that are infused by God alone and direct us aright to God (Summa Theologiae, Handout II, 11).It is only through the participation in these theological virtues that an individual can be guided toward God Himself. These virtues are the perfecting agents by which the human will and intellect are pushed toward their last act (Summa Theologiae, Handout II, 8). This last act is the attainment of happiness in the vision of the Divine Essence. Rather than try to explain c oncepts beyond what his reason can grapple with, Virgil asks his pupil to wait for Beatrice to answer his questions on this subject Do not try to resolve so unintelligible a doubt wait until she shall make it clearershe, he light between truth and intelligence (Purgatory 225). In this statement Virgil admits that Beatrice, as the light, is more capable of illuminating matters of the divine than the poet. Once the pair reaches the top of mount Purgatory, Virgil tells his young friend, youve reached the place where my discernment now has reached its end (Purgatory 351). Virgil has taken the Pilgrim as far as reason can dictate now Dante requires a guide of theological proportions to guide him in a realm where reason is blinded.When Dante reaches the top of Mount Purgatory, he has been cleansed of every perversion of the will. The feelings of admiration he felt for Virgil have been replaced by the intense love he feels for his new guide, Beatrice. He now desires conceptual knowledge l ess and instead begins to explore understanding through his senses. This tradeoff is necessary in this new realm where observations may not be fitting to human concepts. This necessity is made clear when Beatrice beings to explain to Dante the divinely ordained distribution of power amongst the stars (Paradise Canto I).Before she lays out the complicated plan she warns Dante, even when the senses guide, reasons wingspread can sometimes be short (Paradise 399). This is a reminder to Dante that his experiences in Paradise will not be as easily digested and picked apart as his experiences in Hell and Purgatory. In the former realms, human reason could essentially provide explanations without needing the aid of theology. This is also a cue to Dantes readers that they are not mentally capable of understanding the phenomena he is about to experience, so they must rely on faith.In a larger context, humanity must rely on its faith in God to have any earthly understanding of what heaven is. Donning red, white, and green, Beatrice symbolically represents the theological virtues, including faith. Dante initially relies on the eyes of Beatrice to reflect the celestial bodies, since the brightness of Paradise overwhelms his eyes (Paradise 393). This can be metaphorically applied to the idea that humans must rely on the assistance of God, through belief and participation in the theological virtues, to begin to understand Gods mysteries.In the same way Dante initially owes his sight of Paradise to the eyes of Beatrice, humanity owes perfection of its reason to the theological virtues. As Aquinas chimes, the theological virtues direct man to supernatural happiness (Summa Theologiae, Handout II, 11). Through keeping faith in the mysteries while on Earth, a soul will be ready to behold them in the afterlife. In this way, both Dante and Aquinas emphasize how important it is for Christians to believe in the mysteries of the divine even when they transcend human reason.Even havi ng beheld the beauty of the Divine himself, Dante is unable to relate the experience in words to his readers. Though he has seen the mysteries of God with his own eyes, the Divine Essences unparalleled nature transcends human explanation and human understanding. In this way Dante illustrates Aquinass conclusion that while on Earth we must rely on what we believe not what we actually see and understand. Aquinas says, although human reason cannot grasp fully the truths that are yet above itif it somehow holds these truths by faith, it acquires great perfection for itself (Summa Contra Gentiles, Handout I, 6).In this way Aquinas clarifies the relationship between faith and reason. Without faith, reason remains unperfected and vulnerable to falsehoods. With faith, however, reason aligns itself with truth and thus aligns itself with the will of God. Individuals who perfect reason with faith are guided along the path towards salvation, just as Dante experiences. Following this path, one i s able to arrive at the end toward which all humanity tends, prepared and deserving of the vision of the Divine Essence. It is only at this moment that the individual achieves the desires of both reason and will truth and happiness.