The Consolations of Philosophy by Boethius, whose English translators include King Alfred, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Queen Elizabeth I, ranks among the most remarkable books to be written by a prisoner awaiting the execution of a tyrannical death sentence. Its interpretation is bound up with his other writings on mathematics and music, on Aristotelian and propositional logic, and on central themes of Christian dogma. Chadwick begins by tracing the career of Boethius, a Roman rising to high office under the Gothic King Theoderic the Great, and suggests that his death may be seen as a cruel by-product of Byzantine ambitions to restore Roman imperial rule after its elimination in the West in AD 476. Subsequent chapters examine in detail his educational programme in the liberal arts designed to avert a threatened collapse of culture and his ambition to translate into Latin everything he could find on Plato and Aristotle. Boethius has been called 'last of the Romans, first of the scholastics'. This book is the first major study in English of a writer who was of critical importance in the history of thought.
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`Given the range of Chadwick's learning, the balance of his judgement, and felicity of his style, it is hard to conceive of a better general introduction appearing for some time ... a fine summary of current scholarship on Boethius.' Classical Philology
`Professor Chadwick has written a book to be re-read, puzzled over, and quarrelled with. All would-be theologians should read it.' Religious Studies
`Professor Chadwick has written a book to be re-read, puzzled over, and quarrelled with. All would-be theologians should read it.' Religious Studies
About the Author
Henry Chadwick, formerly Master, Peterhouse, Cambridge.
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A Well-Rounded Study on the Life,Thought, and Work of Boethius,
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This review is from: Boethius: The Consolations of Music, Logic, Theology, and Philosophy (Hardcover)
The accomplished scholar Henry Chadwick, in his work Boethius: The Consolations of Music, Logic, Theology, and Philosophy, has produced a well-rounded, critical approach to the life and influence, to the writings and teachings, of the philosopher, statesman, and Catholic saint, Boethius. First off, Chadwick provides a fairly extensive sketch of the religious and political milieu of the declining west that Boethius was born into: the relations between Romans and Goths, Catholics and Arians, between Church and State, Platonism and Christianity, are all laid out in a clear and concise fashion. This overview, while treating the aspects of Boethius rearing, education, and career, leads all the way to his tragic death. From here, Chadwick begins his artful analysis of Boethius works: his exploits in the fields of music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy are dealt with briefly. Then Chadwick handles the efforts of Boethius within the fields of logic and rhetoric; he surveys the scholar's writings and commentaries upon the works of Aristotle and many of the preeminent adherents of the school of Neoplatonism. Next, the Christian Theology of Boethius is surfaced through Chadwick's exposition upon the five theological tractates of the scholar. And finally, Boethius' masterwork, The Consolation of Philosophy, is given a fairly extensive analysis which brings to light the religion and philosophy of the Saint [feast of St Boethius Oct. 23]. Overall, this is a comprehensive study of the last of the Romans, and first of the scholastics [as Lorenza Valla put it], which touches upon everything of primary significance in this great man's life and labor. Possibly the most commendable feature of this work, is the fact that Henry Chadwick respectively placed Boethius in a seat of importance within the framework of the Early Church. Here, the Legend of Boethius is turned into a concrete fact. For Boethian studies, Chadwick's work may be the most resourceful and enduring. It is to be considered the standard text for Boethius.
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