Dante's Self-Angelizing: A Prophecy of Egalitarian Transhumanism

Authors

  • Joshua Hall Dept. of Philosophy, William Paterson University,

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25180/lj.v22i2.249

Keywords:

Dante, Divine Comedy, angels, transhumanism, egalitarianism

Abstract

In this article, I argue that Dante's philosophical goal is what I term "self-angelizing," an ennobling philosophical education granting one the knowledge and power of an angel, which the medieval scholastics conceived as celestial intelligences. Dante's own path to self-angelizing begins in his early New Life, which approaches a living Beatrice as exemplar of terrestrial angels. Next, Dante's middle-period Banquet discusses following Beatrice into self-angelizing through an education in philosophical virtue. Finally, in his climactic Paradise, Dante performs his own self-angelizing. The upshot of this journey is Dante's prophecy of an egalitarian transhumanism.

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References

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Philosophy, Art(theory), and Literature (Part II)

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Published

30.12.2020

How to Cite

Hall, J. . (2020). Dante’s Self-Angelizing: A Prophecy of Egalitarian Transhumanism. Labyrinth, 22(2), 139–155. https://doi.org/10.25180/lj.v22i2.249

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 2 (2020): Philosophy, Art(theory), and Literature: Part II

Section

Philosophy and Literature

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Copyright (c) 2021 Labyrinth: An International Journal for Philosophy, Value Theory and Sociocultural Hermeneutics

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