Dante, Purgatory and Paradise
Free Choice in Dante
Marco rejects a complete celestial determinism, arguing that compelled action would make moral reward and punishment unjust. Human beings possess a reasoning mind that remains free of the stars’ coercion. Virgil later distinguishes the arrival of love from its acceptance. Even if an affection begins necessarily, the power to harbour or dismiss it remains in the person.
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In the sources
Principal account
LiteraryMarco rejects a complete celestial determinism, arguing that compelled action would make moral reward and punishment unjust. Human beings possess a reasoning mind that remains free of the stars’ coercion.
Further detail
LiteraryVirgil later distinguishes the arrival of love from its acceptance. Even if an affection begins necessarily, the power to harbour or dismiss it remains in the person.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows Cary’s translation of Dante’s poem. The entry follows two connected arguments in Dante; it does not claim to settle every philosophical account of free will. Its people and places are presented within the literary vision, with the historical or theological subject distinguished from the role Dante assigns it.
Original passages
Source 1
Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante
The reasoning mind uninfluenced of the starsOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante, Purgatory and Paradise; active reader leaf 101
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0119-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0119-E001-P0101
- Original scan leaf
- 102
- Recorded leaf number
- 102
- Current Reader position
- 98
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante
to dismiss Or harbour it, the power is in yourselvesOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante, Purgatory and Paradise; active reader leaf 112
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0119-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0119-E001-P0112
- Original scan leaf
- 113
- Recorded leaf number
- 113
- Current Reader position
- 109
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed