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    Boethius and Dialogue: Literary Method in the Consolation of Philosophy
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    Boethius and Dialogue: Literary Method in the Consolation of Philosophy
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    Boethius and Dialogue: Literary Method in the Consolation of Philosophy
    Ebook275 pages5 hours

    Boethius and Dialogue: Literary Method in the Consolation of Philosophy

    By Seth Lerer

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    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    This book treats Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy as a work of imaginative literature, and applies modern techniques of criticism to his writings. The author's central purpose is to demonstrate the methodological and thematic coherence of The Consolation of Philosophy.

    Originally published in 1985.

    The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPrinceton University Press
    Release dateJul 14, 2014
    ISBN9781400857654
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    Boethius and Dialogue: Literary Method in the Consolation of Philosophy

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    Reviews for Boethius and Dialogue

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    • 3/5
      Invaluable to the understanding of medieval European literature, really. I can't believe I took so long to read it: it explains a lot about the outlook of some texts. It takes the form of a dialogue between Boethius, as the narrator, and Dame Philosophy, during Boethius' imprisonment, explaining the capriciousness of Fortune and the divine plans of God.

      It's not exactly riveting and fun, but it was a pivotal text and influential for a long time. The Oxford World's Classics translation is very readable, with a helpful introduction and notes.
    • 5/5
      I had received not 1 but 3, fine recommendations for this book. First, was from Ignatius J. Reilly c/o [John Kennedy Toole], of course. Second, was from my sister, who obtained her BA in Philosophy many years ago. Third was from the late great Professor Rufus Fears, via a Teaching Company lecture dealing with life-changing books.It is not well known today but was an extremely popular treatise from the early Medieval times onward and it greatly influenced western thought. I particularly enjoyed the lyrical sections interspersed between the dialogues between Philosophy and her student, the imprisoned Boethius.
    • 3/5
      Boethius tried to show why good is always the better choice and evil always the worse choice. He tried doing this purely with philosophy and eliminating religion. Unfortunately, pretty much every argument used stems from the premise that God definitely exists. This is stated at the beginning, and every argument following builds upon that premise.So Boethius' attempt, in this regard, is a complete and utter failure. Despite his efforts to make it otherwise, this winds up being The Consolation of Religion.That being said, the thought process was still very good at certain points. Some of the arguments are very logical, once you understand that he is building on the premise that God exists. His argument in favor of free will was very good for its time. He demonstrates that even if there were such a thing as an omniscient being (e.g. God), free will would still be very possible.
    • 4/5
      Stoic poetry was an interesting experiment, and I'll admit that there's some creativity here. But while the performance was often adequate, there are also many times when something is lacking, or else when it is simply boring and belabored. In a way, it's an interesting mix between showing what (in my correct opinion) philosophy is good for--consolation--as well as why there are better outlets for human creativity and intelligence than philosophy--speculation and snobbery must at some point stop shrewing against the Flux. It's one thing to draw water from the well (dry your tears, mother), and another thing to fall in (such earthly goods will only distract you from more eternal pursuits, woman!). There's a point at which you want to take Philosophy by the arm and lead her away from this monk for to whisper in her ear: Think. I know that the Flux troubles you and that Fortune is your enemy, but did not Epictetus say something about not being troubled about what is not in your power? Or are you a warrior instead of a hermit? Have you forgotten already that what is not in your power is none of your concern? And I might add that both philosophy and poetry can be quite short--compact, or condensed, (rather than condescended), like good music, and perhaps they should be...after all, if you're going to be abstract, you might as well *get thru it* since you don't need to deal with every detail, you need only pluck one detail out of a patch of ten thousand such to use as your example, and, if you look at it from the poet's platform, well, repetition might well be used if it delights the ear, but certainly heavy verbosity brings the poet little benefit and scant praise. {He could have said, "years have passed between us, and some would say, that they have not been kind...and we remain, yet we stand, bloodied yet unbowed...to live, give me one thing, to live or die for...we are! we are bloodied, yet unbowed!"}But he'd rather ape Plato, and that doesn't win many points in my book. "Therefore black is white and grey is yellow.""Certainly." But is grey really like yellow?And it's also as good of an example as any of this medieval scholastic philosopher's terribly unfair tendency to rest three-quarters of the argument on some old pagan philosopher or another they must have found, half-decayed, in some musty old tome in some decrepit old library somewhere, or some remote monastery, which they then proceeded to fawn over in servile, infantile adoration...and then, of course, they would proceed to casually insult and spit on it, gloating childishly in whatever real or imagined superiority they thought to find in their own conceptions of things. {~But I'm not a Stoic! I didn't sit on the Porch of Zeno! ~You're right...you're not much of a stoic.} And, again, just because he quotes condescendingly from Cicero or somebody like that, doesn't mean that he has the slightest bloody idea what he's going on about. Also, the talk about kings and judges and so on is so excessive, it almost starts to sound like lawyer's prattle: and it's all so unnecessary. After all, you need ethics for politics, *but not politics for ethics*. And, of course, there are things that Boethius says (and which Plato says) which are true, and, yet, said in such strange speech, is practically obscured. ("If Chrysippus had not spoken obscurely, this man would have nothing to be proud of.") I can only take it on faith that Truth is never impeded, and that those who deceive themselves hurt themselves, but not others. (7/10)
    • 4/5
      The Consolation of Philosophy is Boethius' attempt to wrap his mind and soul around the problem of theodicy. Specifically, Boethius, a philosopher in the 4th-5th cent. AD, is coming to grips with his own unjust suffering and impending death. As he languishes in a prison cell, he writes Consolation, in which Philosophy herself descends to talk with him specifically about his own plight, as well as the problem of evil generally in this world. Boethius divides his conversation with Philosophy into five books, each of which tackles a specific issue, question, or argument. Book I: Philosophy descends from heaven to meet Boethius in his cell. Boethius airs his complaints to her, culminating his argument by stating, "And now you see the outcome of my innocence--instead of reward for true goodness, punishment for a crime I did not commit." Philosophy lays out the thesis of her response: "Your defenses have been breached and your mind has been infiltrated by the fever of emotional distraction…You have forgotten your true nature." Book II: Philosophy argues that money, power and fame (collectively called Fortune) are destined to go away, and one's fortune can be reversed at any moment. Therefore, these things cannot bring true happiness--so why worry if they are taken away?Book III: Philosophy sketches out the true cause of happiness. Namely, true happiness can be found in God alone, because only He completely embodies what it means to be happy. The closer one draws to God, the happier one will be.Book IV: Philosophy turns to a discussion of good and evil. Today, we might say she is answering the questions, "Why do good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people?" Her answer is that ultimately all things that happen to a good person are good (because they are either reward or discipline), and all things that happen to a bad person are bad (because they are either punishment or correction).Book V: Philosophy wraps up her conversation with Boethius by examining the relationship of free will to God's foreknowledge. She argues that because God sees all things as an eternal present, he necessarily knows the future, though from our vantage point as travelers through time, the choices we make are genuinely free.Like many people out there, last year (2011) was a rough one for my family and me. We went through a lot of trials, and my faith was stretched to the limit. Admittedly, things in my life were not nearly as bad off as they were for Boethius, but nevertheless I found myself making many of the same complaints and observations that he did. For this reason, I really appreciated The Consolation. As the book progressed, I was able to identify with and internalize Philosophy's overarching argument, which is summarized well by Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good for those who love God." While some of Philosophy's logic is suspect (e.g., the idea that evil is nothing, which unfortunately is just a clever equivocation of terms), there are many, many more nuggets of wisdom that still ring true some 1500 years later. I highly recommend this book for anyone who needs reassurance in time of suffering.
    • 5/5
      This book is a dialogue between the female personification of Philosophy, and the author Boethius, in the sixth century A.D. He is in a bit of a fix, and is considering profound philosophical questions. The topics include free will and determinism, the nature of God, human nature, goodness, justice, and they are discussed between the two characters who present arguments and make decisions. There are also numerous verses relating to the topics throughout the book, which act in a way as summaries.The arguments and topics are very much of Platonic and Aristotlean origin, often with a Neoplatonic interpretation. Though the book is religious in purpose, it is a philosophical work that aims to support the tenets of religion without reference to scripture, using only reason. Boethius has a great literary style, which makes this book very nice to read, though the book is just as valuable for how it deals with the big questions. In many aspects it is more satisfying that some of Plato's lesser dialogues, which often reach no conclusion, and in which it is not immediately obvious what we are being taught. Boethius gets to the point, gets the arguments out, and makes decisions. On some things I do not believe he is correct, but a lot of the thought is incisive, and the philosophy on the whole is just as good, if not better, than Augustine's Confessions. These books have a fair amount in common, but are also very different. This book ought to be part of the education of anyone studying philosophy, and happily it has the value of being effortless to read, unlike many other important works.
    • 5/5
      Boethius was the adopted son of Symmachus a highly committed christian and consul at Rome in the late 5th century AD. Boethius in his turn also became consul and the was then appointed by Theodric (King of Italy) to a high ranking position at his court at Ravenna. After a year in post Boethius fell foul of court intrigue and was imprisoned on charges of treason. Whilst in prison and hopeful of reprieve he wrote the Consolation of philosophy. His reprieve never came and he was executed around 525 AD.The Consolation is not a religious tract, it is more a philosophical argument for the existence of God and its aim is to provide comfort to all unfortunate souls who find themselves like Boethius in extreme distress. There are five short books: Book 1: introduces the persona of philosophy and Boethius pours out to her his woes. She promises to provide medicine to cure his moral sickness. Book 2: is a condemnation of the material advantages that Boethius has already enjoyed and looks forward to a time when these will no longer be needed. Book 3: examines the nature of true happiness and the search for true good and puts forward the idea that the perfect good in which lies true happiness is God. Book 4: examines whether God apportions appropriate justice to good and evil men in the world and attempts to explain the apparent irrationality in which the widespread operation of chance seems to be at odds with Gods wise governance. Book 5: asks the question; how can man's free will be reconciled with divine providence. a summary of the arguments then lead the prisoner to spiritual freedom, to shake off the shackles of earthly serfdom and rise to be at one with God.When philosophy first visits Boethius he is surrounded by the muses of poetry, which she drives away calling them "these harlots". A question the reader might ask is whether Boethius would have been better off sticking with the muses of poetry. I think the logical arguments that are easily followed would convince many people that philosophy is the better bet. There are of course gaps in the logic to the modern mind but overall I thought that much of what is said seemed to speak to me down the ages. The one big issue that is not examined satisfactorily is why there is evil in the world If God is omnipotent, A knotty question I know but the consolation seems to shy away from this. I read the Oxford world's classics edition translated and introduced by P G Walsh, which I found to be excellent. Each chapter of text is either introduced or followed by a poem and these are worth the price of the book alone. They either sum up the text or give additional information. I loved them. Walsh provides plenty of background information and his notes are easy to follow and precise. The only advice I would give to readers before starting the book would be to make sure that they are familiar with the basic tenets of Neoplatonism. Walsh has a short chapter on it but to get the most out of the consolation which is based on neoplatonism do a bit of background reading.I will return to this marvellous little book, especially those poems
    • 3/5
      Quite entertaining. Too short to be a great book, but contains some very useful ideas nonetheless.
    • 5/5
      Again, the soul has not only a chance to grow but to realize that all the Soul has and needs is God.
    • 5/5
      boethius's masterpiece, written in prison in the shadow of death, is a beacon of light for us all
    • 3/5
      Boethius discusses philosophy and the meaning of life with philosophy herself on the eve of his death in the 500's. There were some gems in here but most of it was rhetoric concerning classical philosophers and there positions on what is worth while in life and how God influences human life.