Boethius "The Consolation of Philosophy"

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Okay, so I have a paper on this due today "by the end of the day." Can anyone suggest something worthwhile for me to write about it? I'm totally stuck for ideas, except the obvious "it doesn't work for a society that largely doesn't believe in God" because besides being obvious, there's only so much you can say along those lines.

― Ian Johnson (orion), Thursday, 11 March 2004 18:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe you could say something about his positions on music?

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Thursday, 11 March 2004 18:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't really know/remember a lot about this thing, but some stray ideas:

i) Does "it"s value really depend crucially on existence/belief in a God as such, or will "some supreme good" do? And does it have to be objective, or will subjective do?

ii) Form: prose/poetry, variations of metre etc (prob easier for the Latin original, though)

iii) Erm, what Mike D said. (Anything on other arts in there? Can't remember, as prev noted.)

― OleM (OleM), Thursday, 11 March 2004 18:38 (twenty-two years ago)

iv) Personification of abstract concept: Why philosophy=female? (purely grammatical, since feminine gender?) Traits of philosophy apart from what she says? Are there other personifications in there?

v) Its place in tradition of visionary literature type stuff

vi) Try to look up a treatise and/or discussion of the work in library, interweb etc, and see if there are subjects or stances you could play with/against

Sorry if I'm wasting your time here, just random thoughts. (Might be easier if we knew what the overall field of study the paper should address, of course.)

― OleM (OleM), Thursday, 11 March 2004 18:49 (twenty-two years ago)

is boethius the philosopher ignatious is obsessed with in a confederacy of dunces?

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 11 March 2004 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Your original idea (doesn't work for a society that doesn't believe in god) could be more fruitful than you suspect. Just dig deeper into what society does believe in now (humanism, if you will) and what consolations it derives from this belief - then contrast and compare with Boethius and medieval European beliefs.

What parts of contemporary humanism would have been totally unsuitable to provide philosophic solace and comfort to Europeans during the Dark Ages and medieval period and why? And so on.

(lauren - yes, he is.)

― Aimless (Aimless), Thursday, 11 March 2004 19:04 (twenty-two years ago)

thnx guys, these are good ideas, and i'll probably go with my initial thought. also helpful = going to class and finding out the due date has been extended until next tuesday.

― Ian Johnson (orion), Thursday, 11 March 2004 21:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Ask for an extension either way. Extensions = grebt IF you can not let them get out of hand. And thankfully they usually aren't too difficult to secure.

Thank god my paper-writing days are over.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Friday, 12 March 2004 03:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe you could say something about his positions on music?

Yeah, give him a call. He probably still lives in Manchester [/24HourPartyPeople]

― Girolamo Savonarola, Friday, 12 March 2004 03:56 (twenty-two years ago)

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