The Consolation of Philosophy (Norton Critical Editions) [Paperback]

Boethius (Author), Douglas C. Langston (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0393930718 | ISBN-13: 978-0393930719

One of the most influential texts to come out of the late Middle Ages.

The Consolation of Philosophy occupies a central place in the history of Western thought. Its author, Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (ca. 476–526 c.e.), was a Roman philosopher, scholar, and statesman who wrote The Consolation of Philosophy while in a remote prison awaiting his execution on dubious political charges. The text of this Norton Critical Edition is based on the translation by Richard H. Green. It is accompanied by the editor’s preface and full-scale introduction to the work, the translator’s preface, and explanatory annotations.

“Contexts” reprints selections from the texts that Boethius drew upon for his own work. These include excerpts from two of Plato’s Dialogues (Gorgias and Timaeus), from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, and from Augustine’s On Free Choice of the Will.

“Criticism” collects five wide-ranging essays by major scholars of Boethius. Henry Chadwick presents a general introduction to Boethius’s life and works. Nelson Pike presents a clear and insightful interpretation of what Boethius means by writing that God is eternal (timeless). The final three essays—by William Bark, Edmund Reiss, and John Marenbon—all depart from traditional readings of The Consolation of Philosophy in significant ways and are sure to stimulate classroom discussion.

A Chronology of Boethius’s life and work and a Selected Bibliography are also included.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Douglas C. Langston is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at New College of Florida. He is the author of God’s Willing Knowledge: The Influence of Scotus’ Analysis of Omniscience and Conscience and Other Virtues: From Bonaventure to MacIntyre. His articles have appeared in The Journal of Religious Studies, Franciscan Studies, Medieval Philosophy and Theology, and The Southern Journal of Philosophy, among others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393930718
• ISBN-13: 978-0393930719
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #740,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remains vital after fifteen hundred years, October 3, 2004

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Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Consolation of Philosophy (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

The particular edition I am reviewing is the Oxford World's Classics translation by P. G. Walsh.

This is one of those classics that can catch an unsuspecting reader completely by surprise, especially if one has read many other works by near contemporaries. The circumstances under which it was composed are legendary, and lend the work a legitimacy granted to few other works. Boethius was among the foremost government officials in what was essentially the successor government to the end of the Roman Empire. Rome and much of the rest of what would later become Italy was under the control of the Ostrogoth king Theodoric. A product of one of the leading Roman familes, Boethius ascended to a power of great honor and authority under Theodoric, only to be accused of treason late in the latter's life, at which point Boethius was imprisoned and condemned to death. While awaiting his fate (including whether Theodoric actually intended on carrying out the sentence), Boethius wrote this remarkable dialog between a prisoner whose situation closely resembles Boethius' and Philosophy personified as a woman. Although many topics are discussed, the heart of the dialog is the nature of true happiness.

Although few of its readers are likely to face circumstances as dire as Boethius', the work remains remarkably pertinent in an age where ideals of happiness are dictated almost entirely by our modern consumer society. Philosophy carefully explains to the prisoner that that happiness can never be found in such things as fame or power or riches and other things that are confused with the true source of happiness. For Boethius' Philosophy, happiness is ultimately rooted in the Christian God, but even for non-Christians, the lightly theological tone of the work provides much reflection on the nature of happiness in almost any kind of situation.

The Walsh edition of this work is, in my opinion, the finest readily available edition in English. The notes are marvelous, both providing overviews to each upcoming section as well as providing detailed comments on specific lines in the text. The introduction gives any new reader of the work all the context and background that he or she would need to digest the work. Best of all, the translation is exceptionally readable, and the translations of the many poems far above the average for most academic translations of verse.

I recommend this work strongly to either of two kinds of readers. First, for anyone who is a student of intellectual history the work remains for an understanding of a host of writers in the middle ages, as well as for many 19th century poets. Second, anyone interested in devotional or reflectional works, whether religious or philosophical, this remains one of the most essential works in the history of thought. By almost any standard, this is a work that demands careful reading and study.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and immediate, January 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Consolation of Philosophy (Hardcover)

Most people don't expect medieval literature to be easy to read, let alone relevant,immediate, and moving. Yet the Consolation is all that and more. As other reviewers here point out, Boethius wrote it under great personal duress. After rising to a high position and enjoying a distinguished career, Boethius is awaiting execution and the Consolation details his gradual movement from despair, grief and anger at the hand he has been played by fortune to a remembrance of his "true nature" and that of the universe...aided at every step by Lady Philosophy. Although the arguments are often familiar to anyone versed in ancient philosophy, and the structure rhetorical, the terrible context and the passion behind the arguments make this about as immediate and real as it gets. PS The medievals thought so too...it is just about the most quoted and imitated book of the period...

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A Light Among the Ever-Dimming Roman World", September 28, 2000

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Johannes Platonicus (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Consolation of Philosophy (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Boethius was certainly a bright spot in the midst of a darkening world flooded by barbarians and intellectually on the decline. Boethius was among the many commentators and compilers of his age who endeavored to preserve the tenets of Greek Philosophy. His commentaries on the original Greek texts of Aristotle helped to pave the way for Aquinas' "Summa Theologia." So Boethius' works, though lacking originality, nevertheless made a very significant impact upon the later scholastic philosophers, and to the whole of Catholic tradition as well. Italy, during Boethius' time, was under the rule of Theoderic the Ostrogoth, who unjustly imprisoned the statesman/philosopher, falsely accussing him of treason. While waiting for his execution, Boethius wrote his "Consolation of Philosophy." The book itself is among the masterpieces of all time, and the only thing as tradgic as Boethius' untimely death is the fact that we were not able to obtain anymore works from this genius with the golden pen. Had he remained alive, it is very likely that we would have seen a sublime synthesis, in Latin, of Plato and Aristotle, not contradicting each other but complimenting one another. However, in short, this book is a small manifestation of what may have happened if he lived longer. What is interesting about this book is that it handles several different perspectives, namely that of the sorrowful Boethius and the consoling wisdom of Lady Philosophy, written both in eloquent prose and dazzling verse, which together ultimately culminates into a one of the most moving, inspiring, and thought provoking philosophical works of all time. The book is indefatigable, in that it never seems to quit opening new corridors of thought; and it is essential, because it is the philosopher's ideal breviary. It is interesting to note - and this is certainly not a negation to his Christian convictions - that while this Saint was awaiting his execution he remebered Athens, not Calvary.