"The Consolation of Philosophy" is a book written in 524 CE, when Europe was transitioning from the classical era to the early Middle Ages. The author, Boethius, has a dialogue with Philosophy, personified as a woman, covering big philosophical and theological issues such as, Why does God permit evil to exist? and If God is all-knowing, can there be free will? It's a short book, written in a very accessible style, which probably helps explain why it remained very popular for centuries to come. Until the Renaissance, it was the most important book linking Christianity back to ancient Greek philosophers like Plato and Artistotle.
But the book takes on a whole new meaning when you consider who Boethius was and under which circumstances he wrote it. Born in Rome, he became a statesman in the Ostrogothic Kingdom, in which the eastern Goths, under King Theoderic the Great, ruled most of present-day Italy, Spain, Croatia and Bosnia from Ravenna in Italy. Boethius was Theoderic's personal advisor. But when he tried to expose corruption among the Ostrogoths, he was convicted, imprisoned and eventually put to death.
Boethius wrote "The Consolation of Philosophy" while imprisoned, and although it's not clear if he knew he would be executed when he wrote it, he must surely have considered it a possibility. With that in mind, the book becomes more than an intellectual exercise, and rather an attempt to find peace with the vagaries of fickle fate. Philosophy is more than a teacher; she brings peace of mind and equanimity to Boethius, in a word: consolation.
No comments:
Post a Comment