Practical Philosophy discussion

In this book, the poet Dante offers in encyclopaedic fashion an entire body of mediaeval religious knowledge. In a study of the book which condemns Aristotle to hell, we would like to explore the possibility for the co-existence of philosophy in religious systems of punishment, with 'Inferno' serving as a case study on mediaeval attitudes towards divine justice.

On the topic of damnation—a topic rarely congenial to secular thinkers—a consolidation with the questioning spirit seems unlikely, yet this consolidation is what we will consider in this discussion. This topic is relevant in our times because of the persisting differences between theological and philosophical thinking. Moreover, this topic may help in the study of how to integrate religious ideas into our modern ways of thinking. It offers an opportunity to consider the rationale behind Christian punishment systems—which are sometimes too readily condemned or dismissed as anachronistic by modern atheists—and to extract insights for modern-day incorporation.