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Dinesh club

Posted: 21 Jan 2022

Taken: 21 Jan 2022

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Philosophy •
A Very Short Introduction: •
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The Problem of Evil •
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Lady Philosophy & Boethius

Lady Philosophy & Boethius
In this Renaissance painting Boethius (C.AD 480-525) listens to the words of the Lady Philosophy. The Consolation of Philosophy is his most famous book, and consolation was that he needed as he awaited execution. But philosophy has had many purposes besides this one.


In 523 Boethius fell from power. After a period of imprisonment in Pavia for what was deemed a treasonable offence, he was executed in 524.


www.gutenberg.org/files/14328/14328-h/14328-h.htm


plato.stanford.edu/entries/boethius


PHISOSOPHY ~ A Very Short Introduction
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 Dinesh
Dinesh club
Boethius, ‘The Consolation of Philosophy’ Given that reading was mostly done ‘out loud’ in the era, given that the relative power of the voice of the prisoner diminishes to practically nothing in the course of the book and the voice of Lady Philosophy comes to dominate the final half of the book, almost completely then, the ‘reader’; of this text as a ‘reciter’* of this text is not merely reading a generic text, but performing a dramatic script. The purpose of the reading is performative: to transform one’s own voice from that of a whining prisoner to that of someone who can accept providence no matter what it brings. Of course,, one can read the ‘Consolation’ as an assertive text, but then one misses the point of the dialogue and the weight as an assertive text, but then one misses the point of the dialogue and the weight given to the dialogue partners; one misses the point of the refreshment of the poetical selections; one misses the point that this text book is a prescription; and as a book rectited properly, it is an ‘assertive declaration,’ as the reader begins ‘where one is,’ wallowing in prison attended by deceptive ‘sluts of the theatre,’ and winds up consoled by one’s own voice articulating in one’s own voice an account of providence. ~ Page 180

* to repeat or read aloud something memorized or prepared.

The Problem of Evil
15 months ago. Edited 15 months ago.

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