Inferno, by Dan Brown
OK, so the Consolation of Philosophy thing didn't work. I just couldn't get into it, sorry. Consolation as defined in the time of Boethius doesn't seem to do it for me. I know he was all important, but I just couldn't read a book because I'm supposed to. Maybe someone out there can tell me why I should have liked it.
Not that I dislike Medieval Philosophy. There are some interesting things there in the foundations of modern thought. You know, the Universals stuff is interesting to think about for awhile. Also, I often feel that underlying modern science are mental reflexes that are Medieval in character: there is a kind of Medieval 'first principle' feel to the Higgs Boson(the particle goo that bequeths mass, think about the beginning of The Paradiso:
"The glory of the One who moves all things
permeates the universe and glows
in one part more and in another less."[Mandelbaum Translation]
) and the Quantum Field of which all matter/energy is an expression -- plus there's all this number theory in Fermionic physics. Don't write me saying it shouldn't be called the 'God Particle' -- I got that, but methinks modern science protests too much -- and String Theory, well... But then, some of this is inevitable because you always have to have axioms of some kind -- unless you're POMO, in which case you're just a damn Sophist.
But now I'm going to sell out big time and read the latest book by Dan Brown. First things first, I'm actually not a big fan of Dan Brown. I got an abridged audio version of whatever the hell the name of his most famous book is and found it pretty stupid. Also, I thought Angels and Demons was dumb and some of his other works were quite silly.
But I couldn't resist because this book has to do with Dante. For those of you who don't know, Dante is one of my favorite authors -- perhaps someone can tell me why I love Dante so much but can't even crack open The Consolation of Philosophy? The only other author who rivals Dante for me is Shakespeare. I know, I'm so original. But, there it is.
So, starting next time, I will read some of Inferno and tell you what I think.,
Not that I dislike Medieval Philosophy. There are some interesting things there in the foundations of modern thought. You know, the Universals stuff is interesting to think about for awhile. Also, I often feel that underlying modern science are mental reflexes that are Medieval in character: there is a kind of Medieval 'first principle' feel to the Higgs Boson(the particle goo that bequeths mass, think about the beginning of The Paradiso:
"The glory of the One who moves all things
permeates the universe and glows
in one part more and in another less."[Mandelbaum Translation]
) and the Quantum Field of which all matter/energy is an expression -- plus there's all this number theory in Fermionic physics. Don't write me saying it shouldn't be called the 'God Particle' -- I got that, but methinks modern science protests too much -- and String Theory, well... But then, some of this is inevitable because you always have to have axioms of some kind -- unless you're POMO, in which case you're just a damn Sophist.
But now I'm going to sell out big time and read the latest book by Dan Brown. First things first, I'm actually not a big fan of Dan Brown. I got an abridged audio version of whatever the hell the name of his most famous book is and found it pretty stupid. Also, I thought Angels and Demons was dumb and some of his other works were quite silly.
But I couldn't resist because this book has to do with Dante. For those of you who don't know, Dante is one of my favorite authors -- perhaps someone can tell me why I love Dante so much but can't even crack open The Consolation of Philosophy? The only other author who rivals Dante for me is Shakespeare. I know, I'm so original. But, there it is.
So, starting next time, I will read some of Inferno and tell you what I think.,
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