Book Review… The Musings of a Philosopher Facing Death

May 10, 2020 Book Review…, News

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Book: The Consolation of Philosophy
Author: Boethius
Critic: Glenville Ashby, PhD

‘The Consolation of Philosophy’ is the defining work of Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius (477-525 AD) commonly called Boethius. Of note, is the recognition he enjoyed as one of the most influential philosophers of the Middle Ages. ‘Consolation’ is a prosimetric work imbued with the intensity of a man marked for death, and that he was. Cathartic and wrenchingly authentic, Boethius pours his anxieties and resentment onto every page. Mankind has failed him and only oneiric exchanges with his daemon consoles. It is epistemological dialogue that sustains him. His muse impugns his enemies while offering wisdom and solace. “Who,” saith she, “hath permitted these tragical harlots to have access to this sick man, which will not only not comfort his grief with wholesome remedies, but also nourish them with sugared poison?”
A one-time Roman senator, consul and magister officiorum, Boethius is sentenced to death for treason in 524 AD, accused of pro Byzantine sentiments and his alleged resistance to Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. He is a dead man walking, his musings the only balm against ego dissolution. His words are damning, fatalistic, and even redemptive. He is ambivalent at times. Of God’s benevolence, he is doubtful. But ultimately, his is a message of justice and vindication, light over darkness, and innocence over guilt. He writes in Book 1. Song V:
“For why should slippery chance rule all things with such doubtful governance?
Or why should punishments,
Due to the guilty, light on innocence?
But now the hugest place
Giveth to naughty manners greatest grace,
And wicked people vex
Good men, and tread unjustly on their necks;
Virtue in darkness lurks,
And righteous souls are charged with impious works…”
Throughout, Boethius searches for meaning, his mood shifting from despair to hope; a cacophony of turmoil stirs him as he awaits the tolling bells. He probes the mysteries of life and the workings of the Divine. “I searched the secrets of nature,” he intones. “Are these the rewards which thy obedient servants have.”
He piercingly reflects on his life. Did he not follow life’s enduring principle? Was he not destined to serve with impartiality? Had he not fulfilled his duties? Wasn’t his righteousness predetermined?
Why has Providence turned on him?
His ordeal is likened to that of great philosophers. “Have we not in ancient times before our Plato’s age had oftentimes great conflicts with the rashness of folly? And while he lived, has not his master Socrates the victory of an unjust death…”
Boethius’ case is not uncommon. The poison of Socrates, the torment of Zeno are recounted, but they are foreign examples of his plight. More germane is the tragic end of Canius, Seneca and Soranus.
Boethius is called to face his dilemma, to be intrepid, to be poised amid terror. “Understand thou these things, and do they make impression in thy mind. Speak out, hide not thy thought. If thou expectest to be cured, thou must discover thy wound.”
Interesting is his ontological views that explore the multilayered workings of self if only to glimpse into the nature of man.
Of this, he explores in Book V. Song IV:
“…the sense and shape presented to the thought
From outward objects their impression take,
We with a nimble pen do letters make.
But of our minds to nothing can apply…
Subject to forms which do from bodies flow,
As glass renders empty shapes of things,
Who then can show from whence that motion springs
By force of which the mind all things doth know?
Or by what skill are several things espied?
And being known what power doth then divide
And this divided doth again unite…”
Finally, Boethius is put down, the victim of geopolitical struggle and imperialism. The duplicity of political operatives in such a tempestuous climate shattered every sense of security. It is a portentous scene played out throughout history. The mighty fall, replaced by usurpers, their longevity no one guarantees.
As Boethius finds out, philosophy, in particular, Neoplatonism is salvific, but not in a vicarious way. It is an exercise in rationality and reasoning, an exercise that brought him closer to his own truths regarding free will and predestination. As dawn sets, Boethius reconciles his inner conflicts.
Of the consolation of philosophy, he is convinced.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)

The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius
Feedback: [email protected] or follow him on Twitter@glenvilleashby
Copyright 2019
Publisher: Digireads.com publishing
ISBN: 13:978-1-4209-5879-9
Available at Amazon
Ratings: Recommended

 

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