Consolation of Philosophy

Author(s)

• Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius

Consolation of Philosophy (Latin: Consolatio Philosophiae) is a philosophical work by Boethius written in about the year 524 AD. It has been described as the single most important and influential work in the West in medieval and early Renaissance Christianity, and is also the last great work that can be called Classical.

Consolation of Philosophy was written during Boethius' one year imprisonment while awaiting trial, and eventual horrific execution, for the crime of treason by Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great. Boethius was at the very heights of power in Rome and was brought down by treachery. It was from this experience he was inspired to write a philosophical book from prison reflecting on how a lord's favor could change so quickly and why friends would turn against him. It has been described as “by far the most interesting example of prison literature the world has ever seen.”

The Consolation of Philosophy stands, by its note of fatalism and its affinities with the Christian doctrine of humility, midway between the heathen philosophy of Seneca the Younger and the later Christian philosophy of consolation represented by Thomas Aquinas.

The book is heavily influenced by Plato and his dialogues (as was Boethius himself). (Summary from Wikipedia)

1. Preface & Proem
2. Bk1: Song I: Boethius' Complaint, and section I
3. Bk1: Song II: His Depondency, and section II
4. Bk 1: Song III: The Mists Dispelled, and section III
5. Bk 1: Song IV: Nothing Can Subdue Virtue, and section IV
6. Bk 1: Song V: Boethius' Prayer, and section V
7. Bk 1: Song VI: All Things Have Their Needful Order, and section VI
8. Bk 1: Song VII: The Perturbations of Passion
9. Bk 2: Section I, and Song I: Fortune's Malice
10. Bk 2: Section II, and Song II: Man's Covetousness
11. Bk 2: Section III, and Song III: All Passes
12. Bk 2: Section IV, and Song IV: The Golden Mean
13. Bk 2: Section V, and Song V: The Former Age
14. Bk 2: Section VI, and Song VI: Nero's Infamy
15. Bk 2: Section VII, and Song VII: Glory May Not Last
16. Bk 2: Section VIII, and Song VIII: Love Is Lord of All
17. Bk 3: Section I, and Song I: The Thorns of Error
18. Bk 3: Section II, and Song II: The Bent of Nature
19. Bk 3: Section III, and Song III: The Insatiableness of Avarice
20. Bk 3: Section IV, and Song IV: Disgrace of Honours Conferred by a Tyrant
21. Bk 3: Section V, and Song V: Self-Mastery
22. Bk 3: Section VI, and Song VI: True Nobility
23. Bk 3: Section VII, and Song VII: Pleasure's Sting
24. Bk 3: Section VIII, and Song VIII: Human Folly
25. Bk 3: Section IX, and Song IX: Invocation
26. Bk 3: Section X, and Song X: The True Light
27. Bk 3: Section XI, and Song XI: Reminiscence
28. Bk 3: Section XII, and Song XII: Orpheus and Eurydice
29. Bk 4: Section I, and Song I: The Soul's Flight
30. Bk 4: Section II, and Song II: The Bondage of Passion
31. Bk 4: Section III, and Song III: Circe's Cup
32. Bk 4: Section IV, and Song IV: The Unreasonableness of Hatred
33. Bk 4: Section V, and Song V: Wonder and Ignorance
34. Bk 4: Section VI, and Song VI: The Universal Aim
35. Bk 4: Section VII, and Song VII: The Hero's Path
36. Bk 5: Section I, and Song I: Chance
37. Bk 5: Section II, and Song II: The True Sun
38. Bk 5: Section III, and Song III: Truth's Paradoxes
39. Bk 5: Section IV, and Song IV: A Psychological Fallacy
40. Bk 5: Section V, and Song V: The Upward Look
41. Bk 5: Section VI & Epilogue