In recent discussions of Canto 8 of Dante's Inferno, many scholars have discussed pilgrim Dante's controversial abuse of one of the wrathful sinners of the fifth circle, Filippo Argenti. The altercation between the two is seen in numerous lights. On the one hand this is seen as unjustified (ira mala) because Dante is considered guilty of the sin punished in this area, but also because his response was wrongly motivated. Others say that Dante's anger was just (ira bona) because there was adequate reasoning behind it. Kleinhenz, one scholar in particular, argues that Dante's outburst towards Filippo Argenti is the result of the praise Dante received after initially criticizing the sinner. In his book Inferno 8: Passage through the Styx he argues that Virgil's praise “is perhaps wrongly motivated and consequently, that Dante's reaction to Filippo Argenti in this canto is equally wrong”. Kleinhenz alludes to this point in his interpretation of Luke 11:27, where a woman praising Jesus is right in her exaltation of the Mother and the Son, but her praise is inappropriate to the situation. Analyzing the parallels between Virgil's eulogy and the biblical verse, Kleinhenz argues that both Virgil's and Dante's actions are inappropriate and therefore ira mala. John A. Scott, however, believes Dante's outburst was justified. In his book Understanding Dante, Scott argues that Florence was an important part of Dante's life and that Filippo Argenti was an ostentatious man whose "arrogance and insolent display of wealth" as well as "corrupt nature" are seen as synonymous with the decline of Florence. Thus Scott argues that Dante's anger was appropriate because it was inspired by the new decadence of Fl...... middle of paper ......this anger can be seen simultaneously as ira bona and ira mala. Wishing more pain on Argenti to receive more praise from his mentor is an unreasonable excuse, but trying to become a better student and person by doing as his mentor says is reasonable. Becoming enraged as a human instinct is rational, while doling out punishment while you're only human is not. Dante did not react as he did to the sinner for just one reason, rather he had many reasons to respond in that way. Works Cited Alghieri, Dante. Hell. New York: Oxford UP, 1996. Print.Understanding Dante by John A. Scott, Univ. of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana, 2004 (210-11) Kleinhenz, Christopher. "Hell 8: The Passage Across the Styx." Dantis Lesson. Brown University. No. 3 Autumn 1988 21 par.: 21 September. 2009 .