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In which way is the vision of sinners in the Inferno faulty?

User SidK
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Final answer:

The vision of sinners in the Inferno is considered faulty because it is influenced by their sins and lack of moral insight. This idea is intertwined with theological debates wherein human beings' free will and imperfections lead to evil, posing questions about an all-good deity's role in the existence of evil. Such notions are backed by both philosophical arguments and the medieval artistic depictions of the doomed.

Step-by-step explanation:

The vision of sinners in the Inferno is faulty because it is clouded by their attachments to sin and the lack of recognition of good. In Dante's perspective, these sinners are unable to see their own faults and mistakes, having chosen evil over good. This concept is linked with theological discussions on the nature of evil, such as those posed by St. Augustine, who attributes the existence of evil to human fallibility and the fall from grace in the Garden of Eden, and by Irenaeus, who sees life as a developmental journey towards spiritual maturity.

Some argue that evil comes from human failings and temptations rather than directly from an all-good deity. This brings about the complex question of why an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God would permit such evil and then punish those who are inherently imperfect. This theological dilemma underscores the concept of soul-making and the teleological view that God is involved in human's spiritual development, even amidst the presence of evil.

Moreover, artistic representations, as commented on by Dr. Zucker and Dr. Harris, made the concept of eternal condemnation and the consequences of sin vividly clear to the medieval mind. They reinforced the idea that sinners in the Inferno have a distorted vision, failing to recognize the gravity of their errors. However, some thinkers like Dr. Harris highlight that such defenses for the existence of evil and suffering, like the concept of divine tests, do not fully resolve the philosophical problem of evil, as they seem to challenge the nature of a perfectly just and good deity.

User Miikkas
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