| This study explores Dante's poetic meditation on one of the great classical moral debates of the Western Tradition: the nature and pursuit of happiness. Scholars have presented Dante's conception of felicitade as fragmentary and derivative, yet another chapter in the long tradition of Italian Aristotelianism. In the dissertation, I make three major claims. First, a meditation on happiness---far from being limited to Convivio---runs through Dante's entire intellectual journey, reaching its most original formulation in the Commedia. Next, Dante's discursus de summo bono sheds new light on his philosophical affiliations, as well as his understanding of political and spiritual leadership. Happiness, as Dante understands it, is part of an ethical system informed by a tradition that goes far beyond Aristotelianism. Finally, the radicality of Dante's vision is precisely the manner in which his imaginative encyclopedia engages an entire tradition of philosophical and moral debate. It is through poetry that Dante goes beyond the enterprise of the philosophers and theologians. Embarking on the impossible task of representing Christian beatitude and giving poetry a new and unprecedented status are, in fact, one and the same claim.;Chapter one focuses on Convivio, showing how in the poet's conception of felicitade expands on both the Greek and Roman tradition.;Chapter two examines the passage from Convivio to the Commedia: that is, Dante's radical shift to a poetic meditation on happiness (and the key role played by Augustine therein).;Chapter three focuses on the question of representation in the Commedia and specifically the use of music to embody Christian beatitude. |
