The Consolation of Philosophy (Penguin Classics)

So GoodI recently had the pleasure of reading the book, The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. Here are some thoughts that popped into my head while I was reading:"Genius!""How is it that this book isn't more famous?""How has it taken me so long to read this?""Everyone should read this."This book is truly genius. I will probably read it several more times because this is one of the most honest books, second to the Bible, that I've ever read (so far). I cannot recommend it more highly. If I were to compare it to any book of the the Bible I would have to say it has choices traces of Job, Habakkuk, Jonah, Psalm 73, Philippians, Proverbs, and most of all Ecclesiastes intertwined into it. Moreover, it's saturated in Platonism and contains some remnants of Stoicism and Epicurianism, merely for the sake of showing those philosophies to be false.What's It About?The author, Boethius is in prison awaiting his death while writing this book and he is coming to grips with the injustice he is experiencing at the hands of wicked men that have falsely charged him with treason. He asks questions that we have all asked such as, "Why do good people suffer?", "If God is good why does evil exist?" "If there's no God where does good come from?"Every question and complaint he has is confronted and resolved with sound reasoning by a woman who is the personification of Philosophy.We have all been falsely accused before, or wronged by our neighbor, or simply an unfortunate event has occurred to us and we have probably asked God, "Why me?"Philosophy shows Boethius that "Why me?" is the wrong question. She reasons that if you play in "Fortune's playground", change is her very nature and you cannot expect anything but "inconstancy". Furthermore she argues that since we were born naked into this world and all of life's blessings are Fortune's gifts, what right have we to complain when Fortune withdraws those gifts since they are hers to give and not ours in the first place?Some ObservationsConsider the rich, who are born with Fortune's good will, "how trivial are the things that can detract from the...happiness of a man at the top of fortune." She concludes, that the very inconstancy of Fortune proves that "[She] by her very mutability can't hope to lead to happiness." Moreover, "...happiness can't consist in things governed by chance..."If you are playing Fortune's game, you may win or you may lose. All is up to chance and randomness. But true wisdom will teach us that "you are...happy...then, if you know where your true happiness lies." It ought not to lie in things of Fortune, governed by chance, for in a moment those things can be gained or lost, and they provide only a temporal happiness, so happiness ought to be in things that are governed by God who is as faithful as the morning star.TheodicyThis book is a theodicy, which means its an answer to the "problem of evil". Believe it or not, but the so called "problem", when dealt with correctly, just might change your life. This book will cause you to realize that "Fortune's playground" is no place to live life. Nor is there any right for us to complain when all "good and evil" is merely the giving and withdrawing of Fortune (in our modern language we use the word "grace"), which no man has done anything to earn. Consider the poor man, how merely a small blessing will make him glad, and how the rich man is not satisfied with anything but the best. It is better to be poor and grateful than rich and unsatisfied, "for no man is rich who shakes and groans convinced that he needs more." Still more, once you realize Fortune's "unreliability" she is "deprive[d] [of] her threats...and [the] enticements of [her] allure."May we be free from the wheel of Fortune, and not make "...her as the mistress to rule [our] life...", and may we, whether we have good or bad fortune (grace), place our happiness in the eternal things of God, who never changes.

There’s a lot of depth in this book. It is a little bit complicated, but you will not be disappointed when you pick it up.

good

Ancient, of great depth.

As Boethius awaits his death sentence, Lady Philosophy addresses his selfish grief and helps him to look up to the highest goodness and the God above all. Excellent review of ancient philosophical ideas as well as Christian faith ( though the faith focuses on God and not specifically the work of Christ).

It's like reading Proverbs, with Boethius' character "Philosophy" corresponding to "Lady Wisdom" in Proverbs. The translator has done a superb job of preparing a readable and stimulating translation. "The Consolation of Philosophy" has wisdom for our times: our place in the universe, how a person can find contentment without the aggression that is so much a part of our contemporary social environment.

Very insightful book. Boethius, a philosopher driven by Platonic ideals who entered the service of Gothic King Theodoric and reached very prominent positions, is then suddenly charged of treason in an apparently less than fair trial. He is then imprisoned and awaits execution.How would most people react in such circumstances? Well, Boethius wrote a book that serves as an inspiration for us standing close to 1,500 years after the events. His narrative shows him extremely sad and suffering until his old companion Philosophy talks to him and reminds him of the teachings she has taught him during his life, as a cure to his present illness.Philosophy speaks to him initially in plain language and simple terms in a style I would qualify as similar to Seneca's, but gradually growing in complexity during each chapter (there are 5 of them) towards a much more typical style of Plato: a dialogue where Philosophy (like Socrates) would start from a premise building step a step a logic that would lead to a final conclusion (which differs from Plato's, as Socrates would most of the time show that the final conclusion is a contradiction of previously stated premises). Boethius' writing then present a more positive conclusion.Also, Boethius chose to add poetry from time to time in the conversation, which in some cases are a beautiful display of art to convey an idea, even for people not used to read poetry. When I think on the circumstances on where he wrote them, those words deserve much more credit.

A philosophical view of how to handle setback and tragedy. Seems to have something of a stoic view, not surprising as I’ve read elsewhere that he read a lot of Plato and was a christian. Somewhat heavy-handed in parts, but overall you can understand his philosophy and how he came by it.