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Title: The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, Richard Green ISBN: 002346450X Publisher: Bobbs-Merrill Co Pub. Date: June, 1962 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.67 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.74
Rating: 5
Summary: The Final Document of Classical Antiquity
Comment: The Consolation of Philosophy is the last work that can be described as classical. Boethius, a Christian scholar (De Tractes)and public servant, penned the Consolation while awaiting death by torture on the orders of Theodoric, Ostrogothic King of Italy. Boethius consoled himself by writing an allegory in which Philosophy, in the bodily form of his nurse, comes to him to clarify his mind, weighed down with unhappieness over his misfortune. The style is called the Menippian Satire, which alternates prose sections with short verse stanzas that serve to reinforce the points made in the subsequent prose. Philosophy shows Boethius that he is not abused by Fortune because, as Boethius agrees that God exists, that He is good, and all-powerful, that nothing can happen which God does not permit. His treatment of divine foreknowledge and free will is sublime, as is his discourse on Time and Eternity. Boethius is heavily indebted to Plato for much of his natural theology. This book became the bedside companion of many people, and was translated by Alfred the Great and Elizabeth I. All this, in a work that runs less than 100 pages, depending on the edition.
Rating: 5
Summary: Boethius and The Consolation
Comment: This is a must for any student of philosophy. Boethius is the transition from Roman and Neo-Platonic philosophy into the Medieval Period.
I would also recommend this book to those facing doubt in their studies, or college students thinking of quitting. It is a short work, easy to read and great in its comfort.
"Be not overcome by your misfortunes, for the gifts of fortune are fleeting and happiness is not to be found in temporal goods. Only by being like God, who is the highest good, can lasting happiness come to man." Lady Philosophy counsels.
Although the work is neo-Platonic Aristotle and Porphyry are heavily drawn from - so the advanced reader could consider those volumes too.
Rating: 5
Summary: Moving and immediate
Comment: 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...
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Title: Confessions (Oxford World's Classics) by Saint Augustine, Henry Chadwick ISBN: 0192833723 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics) by Saint Anselm, Brian Davies, G. R. Evans, Anselm of Canterbury ISBN: 0192825259 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: October, 1998 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: The Canterbury Tales, in Modern English by Geoffrey Chaucer, Nevill Coghill ISBN: 0140440224 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 31 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: The City of God (Modern Library Paperback Classics) by Marcus Dods, Thomas Merton, Saint Augustine ISBN: 0679783199 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 12 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Meditations (Modern Library) by Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius, Gregory Hays, Marcus ISBN: 0679642609 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 14 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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