MORALITY IN DANTE'S INFERNO Introduction

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MORALITY IN DANTE'S INFERNO
Introduction
The morality of a person refers to the ability of the concerned person to put forth a
distinctive feature that assists in the distinction among the good and the evil. Moral judgement
refers to the major factor of the cognition that is related to the moral consciousness. The moral
judgmental factors are inclusive of the intuition of the moral standards on the basis of the reason
as well as the comparison of the voluntary actions with the given moral standard. The celebrated
Italian writer Dante Aligheri has often defined “morality” as “the beauty of philosophy”. The
development of the morality helps the concerned person to deal with the moral dilemmas that
he has been facing during his complete life span. The following essay attempts a discussion of
the moral responsibility and the ethics as depicted by the famous text of Inferno as composed by
Dante.
Development of human lifespan on morality
The morality of a person refers to the ability of the concerned person to put forth a
distinctive feature that assists in the distinction among the good and the evil. The morality of a
person helps the person to put forth a distinction between the right acts and the wrong acts. The
morality of a person is known to help in the matters that are related to the actions that are

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implemented by the concerned person on the basis of the distinction that the person has
undertaken. The morality of the given person is solely responsible for the feeling of pride when
the person does a righteous job. The morality of the person is also responsible for the
consequences and the guilty feeling that strikes the concerned person on committing any action
that is not righteous in nature.
Dante is often observed to have been drawing from the philosophical teachings and
theories that were proposed by the earlier philosophers like Aristotle and the other intellectuals
who have been dealing with the philosophical thoughts in the thirteenth century. The
construction of the arguments as presented in Inferno is majorly dependent on the fact that the
human beings are themselves responsible for the consequences that they face on behalf of the
actions performed by them. This was however based on the satisfaction of the fact that the
concerned person is capable of implementing rationality within the given situation. The person,
according to Dante, should be capable of putting forth an understanding of the given situation as
well as the abilities of the person to depict a rational depiction of the choices that are undertaken
by the concerned person. Dante discussed the fact that the existential form of a person in the
afterlife was completely and wholly dependent on the actions that have been undertaken by the
concerned person. The celebrated Italian philosopher was majorly concerned about the
consequences of the behavior that are demonstrated by the person during his lifetime.
This is well depicted in the third canto of Inferno by Dante.
"This miserable way
is taken by the sorry souls of those
who lived without disgrace and without praise.

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They now commingle with the coward angels,
the company of those who were not rebels
nor faithful to their God, but stood apart.
The heavens, that their beauty not be lessened,
have cast them out, nor will deep Hell receive them -
even the wicked cannot glory in them." (Puchner et al.)
Difference between conventional and moral judgement
Moral judgement refers to the major factor of the cognition that is related to the moral
consciousness. The moral judgmental factors are inclusive of the intuition of the moral standards
on the basis of the reason as well as the comparison of the voluntary actions with the given moral
standard. This comparison helps in the matters that are related to the involvement of the
evaluation of the concerned voluntary action. The moral judgement is generally based on the
visible external consequence of the concerned activity. The external consequence generally
depends on the intention or the inner motive behind the concerned activity.
According to Dante, as depicted within the Inferno, refers to hell as one of the places
wherein the concerned person faces a constant tenure of punishment and viciousness. The
composition of Dante especially in Inferno is influenced by the teleology as discussed by
Aristotle. This referred to the ideas that were presented by the philosopher in the matters
pertaining to the difference between the voluntary and the involuntary actions, the purpose
served by the death of the given person, the deliberation, the responsibility as well as the choice
as was presented in Nicomachean Ethics.