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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Really did not expect this to be this good but I really enjoyed it (should have known better since Tolkien and Lewis were fans). Goes over complex ideas in simple and easy to follow ways. And I'm definitely going to make my wife read this book next year.
64/100
In the Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius wrote his book in a dialogue format, conveying different areas of philosophy.
He wrote from a Christian standpoint, which was quite common at his time
Influenced by mostly by Plato, he presents philosophy poetically.
He shares his views on Free Will and fate, his ideas on reconciling divine providence with human choice remain relevant even today.
It is a classical work and heavily influenced the works in the philosophical history.
In the Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius wrote his book in a dialogue format, conveying different areas of philosophy.
He wrote from a Christian standpoint, which was quite common at his time
Influenced by mostly by Plato, he presents philosophy poetically.
He shares his views on Free Will and fate, his ideas on reconciling divine providence with human choice remain relevant even today.
It is a classical work and heavily influenced the works in the philosophical history.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
An interesting bridge between classical and Christian thought. But I don’t feel very consoled.
He is somewhat persuasive on the utility of evil, but not the necessity. Appreciated the discussion on infinite vs eternal. But (and this is a first) I found Boethius even more confusing than Plato’s Gorgias on the topic of wrongdoers and correction.
He is somewhat persuasive on the utility of evil, but not the necessity. Appreciated the discussion on infinite vs eternal. But (and this is a first) I found Boethius even more confusing than Plato’s Gorgias on the topic of wrongdoers and correction.
slow-paced
The Medievals are hard to gauge from here. Boethius seems less electric & revolutionary than Augustine, but I'm ignorant about how these things work. The Wheel of Fortune is quite fun, though I think a lot of buffing out is needed if we're to remotely take it seriously. The big idea which occurs here (that I vaguely recollect from A level philosophy) is the compatibility of free will with God, and temporality, as in coexisting with an eternal creator. It works out quite neatly.
If I remember rightly, Dante provides a space for Boethius in Paradiso (one of the lower planets, I think?). There's actually an interesting similarity going on between the Dante/Beatrice relationship and Boethius/Philosophy-as-woman (recall Nietzsche BG&E: If truth is a woman...). We can distinguish by allegory compared to the symbolic. That is to say, Dante's use of Beatrice as a symbol is more sophisticated, but probably we'd expect as much from ~800 years advantage.
If I remember rightly, Dante provides a space for Boethius in Paradiso (one of the lower planets, I think?). There's actually an interesting similarity going on between the Dante/Beatrice relationship and Boethius/Philosophy-as-woman (recall Nietzsche BG&E: If truth is a woman...). We can distinguish by allegory compared to the symbolic. That is to say, Dante's use of Beatrice as a symbol is more sophisticated, but probably we'd expect as much from ~800 years advantage.
To think Boethius wrote this while awaiting to be executed, after being falsely accused of treason. As one would expect, he was feeling rather badly about the whole situation. He has a vision of a beautiful woman who brings him around. Step by step through prose and poetry, Philosophy helps Boethius to understand his life, and the value of it.
I will be reading this again.
I will be reading this again.
my incessant secular humanism strikes again, how else can we explain my curiosity for this text at the onset of the european dark ages? this drive is embedded within the phenomenology of all quintessential utterance itself. the relentlessly narratival drive to seek among the affairs of rational beings a merit-based dispensation of reward and its other arrives through the vessel of boethius in ill favor with the fates, languishing in a dungeon. a prison abolitionist sensibility pays attention to the historical fact that such a hallmark of hegemony originated from within a cell. boethius did a bid in a pavian church for the king of the ostrogoths, perhaps at san pietro in ciel d'oro where he was ultimately laid to rest, entombed near st augustine. maybe it was here that boethius imagined this dialogue with the embodiment of reason, the lady philosophy. the carceral call-and-response that is being in relation, that is the drive to utter with the desire of always being heard by someone somewhere. wanting one's utterance to matter, to have a purpose within the matrix system of everything that is or can be. boethius asks a question older than himself: why are things so fucked up if there is really someone steering the ship? the deathless entanglement of fantasy and analysis that leaves the disconsolate. i can't blame this text, but i'm going to blame it anyway.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced