A new book, “Dante and the Other: A Phenomenology of Love,” which includes a chapter by UST History Professor Dominic Aquila, was released by Routledge Publishers Dec. 30. Aquila’s chapter is titled, “Purgatorio: A Liturgy of Forgiveness and Restoration.” 

Aquila explained, “The liturgical form of Dante’s ‘Purgatorio’ offers a powerfully imaginative vision of how persons reconstruct themselves through responsiveness to God’s grace, forgiveness and repentance in the context of friendship.”

Aquila’s reading of “Purgatorio” benefits greatly from the work of Romano Guardini, Dietrich Von Hildebrand, Hannah Arendt, Julia Kristeva and Vladimir Jankélévitch

In general, “Dante and the Other: A Phenomenology of Love” is a multi-disciplinary reading of Dante’s “Commedia” united by a focus on love. To paraphrase Josef Pieper, love is today obscured by thickets of sentimentality. But for contributors to this book, in imitation of Dante, love is a unitive and dynamic force. In Dante’s words it is love that “moves the sun and the other stars” (Paradiso XXXIII:145).