Il maladetto fiore: Dante e il denaro alle origini del capitalismo

Abstract

Dante’s concern with money is a significant aspect of his moral and political philosophy and a central motif in his poetic imagination. As a citizen of Florence, a city with a powerful bourgeois class and a currency among the most prestigious of Europe, Dante witnessed the onset of a profit economy and did not fail to see its moral risks. This essay reflects on how Dante’s stance on the issue of money can be related to points made by Emmanuel Levinas and Michel Henry, who are critics of western capitalist economies and who insist that economic realities must be analyzed from a humanistic perspective.