Boethius:

On the Consolation of Philosophy

Is happiness within our control?

Background

In 476 AD, ten-year-old Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, gave up his crown to Odoacer. This is traditionally seen as the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Middle Ages.

Born into Odoacer’s Italian Kingdom was Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius. Boethius (480 - 524) became a powerful politician and statesman during the reign of Odoacer’s successor, Theodoric the Great. However, in 523, he was accused of treasonous activity and thrown in prison. He was executed a year later.

Whilst in prison, however, he wrote one of the most enduring works of philosophy - On the Consolation of Philosophy.

Lady Philosophy

The book starts with Boethius feeling sorry for himself about his predicament. He clearly feels he has been unjustly imprisoned. (Historians generally agree that he was imprisoned for standing up for someone else who had been wrongly accused).

Whilst lamenting his situation, he is visited by Philosophy personified as a woman - Lady Philosophy.

Boethius asks Lady Philosophy why the wicked prosper and the good suffer?

Philosophy explains that we cannot rely on life to be fair, and she illustrates this with the metaphor, ‘the Wheel of Fortune’. Sometimes we are up - living kinglike on the top of the wheel, and sometimes we are down - imprisoned for a crime we didn’t commit. It is simply the way things are:

‘No man can ever truly be secure until he has been forsaken by Fortune.

I know the manifold deceits of that monstrous lady, Fortune; in particular, her fawning friendship with those whom she intends to cheat, until the moment when she unexpectedly abandons them, and leaves them reeling in agony beyond endurance.

...

Having entrusted yourself to Fortune's dominion, you must conform to your mistress's ways. What, are you trying to halt the motion of her whirling wheel? Dimmest of fools that you are, you must realise that if the wheel stops turning, it ceases to be the course of chance.’

—Boethius, On the Consolation of Philosophy

Lady Philosophy goes on to explain that all good things come from God, and that there are many things that merely appear to be good but are actually unimportant and fleeting, like wealth, and power.

She explains that everything is made for the sake of God, and that God is therefore the purpose of everything, and that true happiness is communion with God. Good people, therefore, are already happy because they are already in communion with God, whereas evil people only appear to be happy.

Argument summary

We can formalise the argument as follows:

Happiness and Goodness are one thing – they are God.
All things are made for the sake of God – God is the Summum Bonum (highest good).
∴ God is what all things desire.
∴ God directs the universe by drawing all things towards him.
Good people already achieve happiness (simply by being good).
Evil people only ever achieve ornamental goods as a result of Fortune.
Ornamental goods are temporary and unimportant: money, power etc.
Evil people are not good.
∴ Evil people can never achieve happiness.

Discussion

Imagine a young person trains to be a nurse. They are committed to helping the poorest people and so travel to countries where there is the most need. They witness terrible things. Their life is constantly under threat and they are extremely stressed all the time. Eventually, they die before the age of 30 from a virus caught from one of their patients. Can they really be said to have lived a happy life?

Now imagine someone who was born to very rich parents. They have everything they want: money, fame, the adoration of beautiful people. They are able to live out every fantasy and go on every adventure they can think of. They're selfish, mean, narcissistic, but that never has any consequences for them because there are always people willing to do what they say in return for their money. They die at a ripe old age. Did they live an unhappy life?

Tasks

Explain why Boethius thought that evil people could not really be happy, but good people always are.
Explain one objection to Boethius' view.
Evaluate Boethius' position.

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