Our first reaction to such a map is probably to dismiss it as useless—it's hopelessly simply. But that may be because we are failing to see how this map functions. If we want an accurate way to get from A to B, say from Northern Europe to Africa by ship, this complaint might have a good deal of weight; for this purpose such a map is no help to a navigator. On the other hand, the demand that maps serve as aids for accurate travel is fairly recent in some quarters. What people demanded from a map like this is something else—a structure of meaning which integrates the places of the world into a coherent vision of what the world means, a vision which corresponds to our dreams. This map, which might be (and indeed was) often embellished considerably without any compromise to its basic design, is a complete and coherent statement of the world, and those who take this as the map of the world express in that acceptance a unified vision. Such people have no need for accurate travel......

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Title: Dante And His Beliefs
Approximate Word Count: 476
Approximate Pages: 2 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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