The Divine Comedy is an Italian narrative poem begun around 1308 and completed around 1321. It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The poem discusses the state of the soul after death and presents an image of divine justice, describing Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. It is an allegory representing the soul's journey towards God, drawing on medieval Catholic theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy. The work is considered one of the greatest in Italian literature and Western literature, and it helped establish the Tuscan language as the standardized Italian language.
Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self is a comprehensive exploration of the development of the self in Western thought. The book traces the evolution of self-understanding from ancient Greece to the modern era, examining how different philosophical and religious traditions have shaped our conceptions of identity. Taylor argues that the modern self is characterized by a unique sense of autonomy and individuality, but also by a profound sense of alienation and fragmentation. He explores the implications of these developments for our understanding of ethics, politics, and religion. The book is highly influential in the fields of philosophy, sociology, and religious studies. It's a challenging but rewarding read for anyone interested in the history of ideas and the nature of the self.
In 'A Secular Age', Charles Taylor explores the transformation of Western society from a pre-modern world where belief in God was inescapable to a modern secular age where believing in God is just one option among many. Taylor argues against the 'subtraction story' of secularization, which posits that religion has been removed from society. Instead, he describes a complex historical process involving the Reform movement in Christianity, the rise of disciplinary society, and the emergence of exclusive humanism. The book examines how these changes have affected the conditions of belief and unbelief, and how they have shaped modern social forms, moral orders, and spiritual experiences[1][3][4].
Owen Barfield was the genius Inkling, said CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. But why does he so much matter today?
They consider how Owen Barfield addresses the idea of secularism developed by Charles Taylor and why that might matter in a cultural moment that feels like a folk in the road.
They speak personally of how Barfield touched them and why his insights might matter to the psychedelic renaissance.
A central idea is that of polarity - moving beyond the dualisms that trap people, on the left and on the right, in a flatland mentality.
They ask how Barfield’s vision of final participation can be understood, even experienced, in language, in nature, with Indigenous traditions, in sacrament. They also consider how Rudolf Steiner, so important to Barfield, might be appreciated critically.
Fundamental is the Christian insight that the transcendent is also immanent, the many are reflections of the one, and that humanity shares in divine purposes.
For more on Mark, including his book on Barfield’s understanding of Christianity - www.markvernon.com
For more on Ashton - https://ciis.academia.edu/ashtonkohlarnoldy
0:00 Barfield's relevance today
06:47 Monotheism and the singular self
12:02 Encountering worlds of spirit
20:26 The task of integration
27:49 The ongoing Christian revelation
32:34 Steiner and politics today
44:03 The experience of polarity
49:22 Barfield and ecology
53:03 Taylor's interspace and imagination
56: 29 The divine power of language
01:01:08 Poetry and the evolution of consciousness
01:06:54 The past in the present and the future
01:11:09 Questions of identity
01:16:44 The future orientation of Christianity
01:21:09 Residual unprocessed positivism
01:25:38 Critical readings of Steiner
01:30:42 Concluding remarks
Inner Life, Talks and Thoughts 
