The Italian Cultural Institute of Montreal, in collaboration with Prof. Andrea Falcon (Department of Philosophy, Concordia University), is pleased to announce a series of talks on the topic of “Dante and Philosophy”.
Dante (1265-1321) was not a professional philosopher but was seriously engaged with philosophy, and this engagement was essential to his work as a whole. With the help of three guest speakers, we will explore various aspects of Dante’s engagement with philosophy from the Convivio to the Commedia.
Thursday, November 8, 2:45 pm
Department of Philosophy, Concordia University, 2145 MacKay (Room S-201)
Event in English
The seats for this event are limited. If you plan to attend, please email Prof. Andrea Falcon andrea.falcon@concordia.ca
The fourth treatise of the Convivio is a long scholastic question in the vernacular dedicated to the theme of nobility. The aim of the treatise is presented explicitly and clearly by Dante: on the correct understanding of the true nature of nobility depends the very possibility of an ordered and virtuous human coexistence. The definition of the nobility that Dante proposes, however, is more stratified and complex, although it is often hastily reduced to the claim and exaltation of the ‘nobility of spirit’ as opposed to the nobility of blood. The accurate references to very technical and precise medical notions (such as ‘complexion’ or ‘radical moisture’) suggest a possible alternative reading: Dante seems rather to develop a ‘physiognomy of nobility’, based on some of the fundamental principles of medieval physiognomy as a medical-philosophical discipline: the close relationship between the complexion of the body and the powers of the soul, the importance attributed to embryology, the role of astrology, and the possibility of deriving the essential traits of each person’s character from the outward signs that manifest themselves in different ages.
Pasquale Porro is Professor of Medieval Philosophy at the University of Bari, Italy, where he also teaches Greek, Arabic, and Latin Philosophy. He is also Professor of Medieval Philosophy and Director of the “Centre de Recherche Pierre Abélard” at the Sorbonne Université, Paris. He is currently invited Professor at the Istituto di Studi Filosofici, Facoltà di Teologia di Lugano and at the Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano.