Aquinas & Dante: The Meeting of Theology, Philosophy, and Poetry

Abstract

Western Civilization has brought forth many philosophers, theologians, and poets throughout its history, but two of the most notable are Thomas Aquinas and Dante Alighieri. In this presentation, I will focus on where Dante and Aquinas overlap, using primarily the Summa Theologiae and Dante’s first part of the Divine Comedy, Inferno. The primary topics I will cover are Aquinas’ understanding of humanity and God, how sin affects humanity and how saints, angels, grace, pilgrimage, and imagination play a role in humanity’s salvation/redemption and the battle against sin and the devil. Relevant questions include why a reading of Dante and Aquinas are relevant today, and how Dante’s Inferno helps his reader live out Aquinas’ school of thought. My conclusions will generally be that the works are relevant today because Aquinas gives us a good metaphysical foundation for a life well lived and Dante helps us see specifically where Aquinas’ thought applies to our lives, even if Dante doesn’t accurately represent Hell in Inferno.