The Consolation of Philosophy

Front Cover
Martino Fine Books, 2011 - Philosophy - 162 pages
2011 Reprint of 1962 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "Consolation of Philosophy" is a philosophical work by Boethius, written around the year 524. It has been described as the single most important and influential work in the West on Medieval and early Renaissance Christianity, and is also the last great Western work that can be called Classical. It was written during a one-year imprisonment Boethius served while awaiting trial for the crime of treason. This experience inspired the text, which reflects on how evil can exist in a world governed by God, and how happiness can be attainable amidst fickle fortune, while also considering the nature of happiness and God. Boethius writes the book as a conversation between himself and Lady Philosophy. She consoles Boethius by discussing the transitory nature of fame and wealth, and the ultimate superiority of things of the mind, which she calls the "one true good". She contends that happiness comes from within, and that one's virtue is all that one truly has, because it is not imperiled by the vicissitudes of fortune.

About the author (2011)

Born of a distinguished family, Boethius received the best possible education in the liberal arts in Athens and then entered public life under Theodoric the Ostrogoth, ruler of Italy. Boethius obtained the highest office, but was later accused of treason, imprisoned, and executed. In the dungeon of Alvanzano, near Milan, during his imprisonment, he composed "The Consolation of Philosophy," a remarkable piece of prose literature as well as philosophy. Boethius's outlook, like that of all the Church Fathers, was Platonistic, but he preserved much of the elementary logic of Aristotle. Boethius reported in his commentaries the views of Aristotelians even when they disagreed with his Platonism. Thus he created an interest in Aristotle in subsequent centuries and provided a basis for the introduction of Aristotle's works into Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Boethius was put to death in 526.

Bibliographic information

TitleThe Consolation of Philosophy
AuthorBoethius
Translated byRichard Green
Editionreprint
PublisherMartino Fine Books, 2011
ISBN1614270457, 9781614270454
Length162 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy
Philosophy / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical
Philosophy / History & Surveys / Medieval
Philosophy / Religious
Self-Help / Personal Growth / Happiness
  
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