Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy,Book I-III.ppt

Brian Keeley Philosophy, Pitzer College Office: Broad Hall 107 Schedule Read Books IV V for next time Boethius, the person Born: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (482-524/5). Born in Rome to a powerful aristocratic family; his father had been a powerful political leader and had become Consul of the Roman Senate before his death when Boethius was only 8 yrs old. Boethius, the person Boethius adopted by Symmachus, the head of the most powerful Roman family, who would also become Consul. Symmachus and Boethius were devoted to one another, and Boethius goes on to marry Symmachus’s daughter. Boethius, the person Boethius was very intelligent, and said by historians to be perhaps the most educated person in Italy for a hundred years before and after his life. (!) Boethius, the person An avid follower of Plato the other classic philosophers of Greece Rome, he entered political life. Following in the footsteps of his families, he too became Consul, as did both of his sons. He also had an influential intellectual life, authoring a number of treatises, commentaries, and translations of the classic works then available. Consolation of Philosophy:The Back-Story First, we have to realize that Boethius’s father’s generation saw the end of the Roman Empire, at least the Roman Empire as ruled by the Romans. The barbarians had finally defeated Rome. Consolation of Philosophy:The Back-Story In Boethius’s time, the Roman Empire was ruled by the Ostrogoths, led by Theodoric (who was put up to the invasion by the leader of the Eastern Empire based in Constanti-nople, now Instanbul). Theodoric was Emperor, but was content to let the locals carry on more or less as before, but with him as Emperor. Consolation of Philosophy:The Back-Story By the time Boethius became Consul, Theodoric’s relationship with Constantinople had soured. The next piece of the puzzle is that not only was the Empire split, the Church was split as well. The Pope led a not-very-powerful Roman Catholic C