Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy as a Product of Late Antiquity

Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy as a Product of Late Antiquity PDF

Author: Antonio Donato

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2013-09-12

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1472502221

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In the last fifty years the field of Late Antiquity has advanced significantly. Today we have a picture of this period that is more precise and accurate than before. However, the study of one of the most significant texts of this age, Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy, has not benefited enough from these advances in scholarship. Antonio Donato aims to fill this gap by investigating how the study of the Consolation can profit from the knowledge of Boethius' cultural, political and social background that is available today. The book focuses on three topics: Boethius' social/political background, his notion of philosophy and its sources, and his understanding of the relation between Christianity and classical culture. These topics deal with issues that are of crucial importance for the exegesis of the Consolation. The study of Boethius' social/political background allows us to gain a better understanding of the identity of the character Boethius and to recognize his role in the Consolation. Examination of the possible sources of Boethius' notion of philosophy and of their influence on the Consolation offers valuable instruments to evaluate the role of the text's philosophical discussions and their relation to its literary features. Finally, the long-standing problem of the lack of overt Christian elements in the Consolation can be enlightened by considering how Boethius relies on a peculiar understanding of philosophy's goal and its relation to Christianity that was common among some of his predecessors and contemporaries.

A Christian in Toga

A Christian in Toga PDF

Author: Claudio Moreschini

Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

Published: 2014-07-16

Total Pages: 157

ISBN-13: 3647540277

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Claudio Moreschini focuses on selected and as yet still understudied aspects of Boethius' life and works. He presents Boethius in the culture of the sixth century in Italy, outlines his great cultural project and discusses the problem of his Christian faith. The Consolatio Philosophiae is examined from the point of view of Latin Platonism, highlighting the aims of its poetry and its philosophical tenets. Moreschini also shows how Boethius combined Christian faith and philosophy in order to solve theological issues, most notably the Christological debates of his times or the question of the Trinity.

Boethius as a Paradigm of Late Ancient Thought

Boethius as a Paradigm of Late Ancient Thought PDF

Author: Thomas Böhm

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2014-10-10

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 3110310759

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Boethius gehört zu den herausragenden Denkern der spätantiken Geistesgeschichte. Anders, als man vielleicht meinen würde, ist diese Sicht auf Boethius in der Forschung allerdings nicht unumstritten und verhältnismäßig neu. Sie lässt eine Tendenz zur Neubewertung erkennen, die nicht nur Boethius, sondern auch das Denken seiner Zeit immer mehr in seiner Eigenständigkeit zu würdigen beginnt. So werden Boethius wie auch die Spätantike immer weniger nur als Instanzen der Vermittlung klassisch antiken Wissens in das christliche Mittelalter angesehen. Worin aber besteht die Originalität des Boethius und des durch ihn wesentlich geprägten spätantiken Denkens? Kann die Spätantike als eine eigene geistesgeschichtliche Epoche betrachtet werden? Wie ist sie dann zu charakterisieren? Inwiefern ist Boethius als eine oder vielleicht sogar die paradigmatische Gestalt der Spätantike zu beschreiben? Diesen und weiteren Fragen gehen die Autorinnen und Autoren des vorliegenden Sammelbandes nach.

The Cambridge Companion to Boethius

The Cambridge Companion to Boethius PDF

Author: John Marenbon

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-05-14

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 1139828150

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Boethius (c.480–c.525/6), though a Christian, worked in the tradition of the Neoplatonic schools, with their strong interest in Aristotelian logic and Platonic metaphysics. He is best known for his Consolation of Philosophy, which he wrote in prison awaiting execution. His works also include a long series of logical translations, commentaries and monographs and some short but densely-argued theological treatises, all of which were enormously influential on medieval thought. But Boethius was more than a writer who passed on important ancient ideas to the Middle Ages. The essays here by leading specialists, which cover all the main aspects of his writing and its influence, show that he was a distinctive thinker, whose arguments repay careful analysis and who used his literary talents in conjunction with his philosophical abilities to present a complex view of the world.

Boethius's ‘Consolation of Philosophy'

Boethius's ‘Consolation of Philosophy' PDF

Author: Michael Wiitala

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2024-05-30

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 1009288229

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The first collection of philosophical essays devoted exclusively to Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy by scholars of late antiquity and medieval philosophy.

Boethius

Boethius PDF

Author: John Marenbon

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2003-02-13

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0199881138

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This book offers a brief, accessible introduction to the thought of Boethius. After a survey of Boethius's life and work, Marenbon explicates his theological method, and devotes separate chapters to his arguments about good and evil, fortune, fate and free will, and the problem of divine foreknowledge. Marenbon also traces Boethius's influence on the work of such thinkers as Aquinas and Duns Scotus.

Boethius’ ‘Consolation of Philosophy’

Boethius’ ‘Consolation of Philosophy’ PDF

Author: Michael Wiitala

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2024-05-30

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 1009288261

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Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy was one of the most widely read and influential texts in medieval Europe, considering questions such as How can evil exist in a world governed by God? And how is happiness still attainable despite the vicissitudes of fortune? Written as a dialogue between Boethius and Lady Philosophy, and alternating between poetry and prose, the Consolation is of interest not only to philosophers but to students of classics and literature as well. In this Critical Guide, the first collection of philosophical essays devoted exclusively to the Consolation, thirteen new essays demonstrate its ongoing vitality and break open its riches for a new generation of readers. The essays reflect the diverse array of approaches in contemporary scholarship and attend to both the literary features and the philosophical content of the Consolation. The volume will be invaluable for scholars of medieval philosophy, medieval literature, and the history of ideas.

The Consolation of Boethius as Poetic Liturgy

The Consolation of Boethius as Poetic Liturgy PDF

Author: Stephen Blackwood

Publisher: Oxford Early Christian Studies

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 0198718314

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Throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, literature was read with the ear as much as with the eye: silent reading was the exception; audible reading, the norm. This highly original book shows that Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy--one of the most widely-read texts in Western history--aims to affect the listener through the designs of its rhythmic sound. Stephen Blackwood argues that the Consolation's metres are arranged in patterns that have a therapeutic and liturgical purpose: as a bodily mediation of the text's consolation, these rhythmic patterns enable the listener to discern the eternal in the motion of time. The Consolation of Boethius as Poetic Liturgy vividly explores how in this acoustic encounter with the text philosophy becomes a lived reality, and reading a kind of prayer.

Boethius on Mind, Grammar and Logic

Boethius on Mind, Grammar and Logic PDF

Author: Taki Suto

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2011-11-11

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9004216049

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Boethius (c.480-c.525/6), who is best known for his Consolation of Philosophy, has been accused of misinterpreting Aristotle’s logical works in his translations and commentaries thereof. Building on recent scholarship in the philosophy of late antiquity, this book challenges some of the past interpretations of Boethius and reveals significant features of his semantics and logic. With comparisons between his and contemporary arguments and attention to the terminology of late antiquity, this work is of use to those interested in semantics, logic and grammar from antiquity to the modern day. Furthermore, this book’s new conclusions aim to reinvigorate interest in this much-maligned and poorly understood philosopher.