Concerning Religious Texts and The Boundaries of Human Understanding

A question or concern I had with Boethius, and a question I seem to have when analyzing any religious or moral text which is trying to argue a particular position, is the question of blind faith. With Boethius, as with many other texts, the reader encounters beautifully written and well thought out arguments in favor of the idea that the wicked are always punished, for example. Arguments such as this…

Boundaries of Poetry and Prose in Boethius

The juxtaposition between the prose and poetry is quite interesting, and I wonder what boundaries it sets in terms of the subject matter. What’s particularly interesting is the incongruity between Lady Philosophy’s words at the beginning–the muses “will only make [Boethius’s] condition worse”–with Boethius’s continued interest in poetic forms (4). Do the boundaries between the poetry and the prose change throughout the text as Boethius explores different forms of consolation?…

Boethius and the Notion of Duality

Boethius and the Notion of Duality By  Ann Rayburn, Julia Liu, Wren McMillan In discussing the depiction of women in Boethius’ The Consolation of Philosophy, we found that the main women character, Lady Philosophy, seems to embody a sense of duality. On one hand, we can see that in the Consolation, Lady Philosophy assumes the role of consoling Boethius. We see her as “in a gesture of gentle efficiency, she…

Boethius and Human Nature

By Faryn Thomas, Jennifer Morse, Joseph Marques, and Robert Carhuayo If evil men have lost their human nature (118), do they still have a will in them left that drives them towards the good (110)? Lady Philosophy explains to Boethius that “any human action presupposes two things: will and ability” (109). She then goes on to say “that the whole effort of man’s will, which is vital in his activities,…

What’s in a Medium?

Why use two forms of writing within the same narrative? What meaning does it add to the text? With regards to Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy, representing information through different mediums leads to: Different modes of artistic appreciation Different ways of interpreting the same information The worth of the narrative can change in the eyes of the reader depending on the medium employed. Contrasting/opposing viewpoints One medium providing clarity on the…