A Study of John Milton from the Perspective of History of Ideas

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1) Milton on the Beatific Vision --- In Dante's Divine Comedy, the beatific vision is placed at the close of the poem, because it is the most important cornerstone on which the whole structure of the poem rests. But Milton starts from another point of view. The scenes in which Angels and Adam see God face to face are placed in the beginning books of Paradise Lost, that is, before their Fall. It is because Milton makes little of such an ephemeral experience that he mentions it so briefly. This difference between Dante and Milton is thought of as the difference between intellectualism and voluntarism, and should be traced into the most fundamental depth of the European history of ideas.2) On Catechism... By comparing the medieval Catholic catechism with the modern Protestant ones, the difference between intellectualism and voluntarism is most clearly discerned.3) Arai Hakuseki's Seiyo Kibun (i, e, What I heard about the Western World) : the Possibility of Natural Theology --- Can a man know God with his reason ? I sought an answer to this guestion in the first classical work written about the West in our country. The author was an encyclopedic scholar in 18th century Japan. His answer is surprisingly similar to that of Bertrand Russell.