French Literature Reviews - 2026
W. Franke. Dante’s Paradiso and the Theological Origins of Modern Thought. Toward a Speculative Philosophy of Self-Reflection
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
Dante’s Paradiso and the Theological Origins of Modern Thought
Toward a Speculative Philosophy of Self-Reflection
William Franke
ISBN 9780367714666
Routledge
364 Pages
£120.00
PRESENTATION
Self-reflection, as the hallmark of the modern age, originates more profoundly with Dante than with Descartes. This book rewrites modern intellectual history, taking Dante’s lyrical language in Paradiso as enacting a Trinitarian self-reflexivity that gives a theological spin to the birth of the modern subject already with the Troubadours. The ever more intense self-reflexivity that has led to our contemporary secular world and its technological apocalypse can lead also to the poetic vision of other worlds such as those experienced by Dante. Facing the same nominalist crisis as Duns Scotus, his exact contemporary and the precursor of scientific method, Dante’s thought and work indicate an alternative modernity along the path not taken. This other way shows up in Nicholas of Cusa’s conjectural science and in Giambattista Vico’s new science of imagination as alternatives to the exclusive reign of positive empirical science. In continuity with Dante’s vision, they contribute to a reappropriation of self-reflection for the humanities.
The study of Dante's Paradiso often intersects with broader inquiries into the intellectual shifts of the late medieval period, particularly the transition from theological frameworks to modern modes of consciousness. Within the traditions of medieval studies and intellectual history, the relationship between scholastic thought, vernacular poetry, and the emergence of subjectivity has long been a subject of scholarly engagement.
William Franke examines self-reflection in Dante's Paradiso, tracing its theological origins and its connection to the modern subject and the Troubadours. The volume considers Dante alongside Duns Scotus, Nicholas of Cusa, and Giambattista Vico to outline an alternative modernity distinct from positive empirical science. Readers interested in the intersections of medieval literature, theology, and the history of modern thought may find these explorations relevant to discussions on the humanities and self-reflection.