Category: Boethius
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Boethius and the Second Death of Oblivion
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Fortuna, Boethius, Philosophia
The Devil Woman lures Boethius a posteriori onto the wheel of fortune while the Eternal Feminine leads him upward a priori. Das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan! (Goethe, Faust)
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Boethius and the Second Death of Oblivion: Ubi nunc fidelis ossa Fabricii manent?
We die twice. We pass out of life, and then we pass out of memory, the encairnment in oblivion more final than the encairnment in rocks. Boethius puts the following words into the mouth of Philosophia near the end of Book Two of the Consolations of Philosophy. Where are Fabricius's bones, that honourable man? What…
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Quietism at War with Activism
EVAGRIOS PONTIKOS enjoins apatheia, a state of deep calm, of tranquillity of mind. Hard to achieve, it is in need of constant protection. Why then do I follow current political and other events? Why do I put myself in a position to have my peace of mind disturbed? I tell myself to do both: live…
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Platonism and Christianity
Brother Dave writes, I'm re-reading Boethius' Consolation. Boethius does have a foot in Athens and one in Jerusalem, it seems to me. Now you sir are a Christian, and argue your positions in a blog subtitled Footnotes to Plato . . . . Would it be fair to refer to you, as I would to Boethius, as a Christian…
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Why We Should Read Boethius
Here. The Devil Woman lures Boethius a posteriori onto the wheel of fortune while the Eternal Feminine leads him upward a priori. Related: Boethius contra Nietzsche on Time and Transition
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There Have Always Been Crises
My wife just now handed me a book from her library, one that I had read in the '70s, but had forgotten, The Pursuit of Loneliness by Philip Slater. It was published in 1970 by the Beacon Press (Boston). It bears the subtitle, "American Culture at the Breaking Point." Somehow we didn't break: here we…
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The Owl of Minerva and the Consolations of Philosophy
It appears that a tipping point has been reached in America's decline. Our descent into twilight and beyond is probably now irreversible. Collective race madness blankets the land, the dogs of destruction have been set loose, and the authorities have abdicated. Should any of this trouble the philosopher? Before he is a citizen, the philosopher…
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This Platonizing Owl Feels a Little Guilty . . .
. . . at deriving so much intellectual stimulation from the events of the day. It is fascinating to watch the country fall apart. What is a calamity for the citizen, however, is grist for the philosopher's mill. Before he is a citizen, the philosopher is a "spectator of all time and existence" in a marvellous…
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Boethius Contra Nietzsche on Time and Transition
Like Nietzsche, "I am grieved by the transitoriness of things." (Letter to Franz Overbeck, 24 March 1887, quoted in R. Hayman, Nietzsche: A Critical Life, Penguin, 1982, p. 304) Unlike Nietzsche, Iappreciate that the Eternal Recurrence of the Same is no solution. The problem with time is not that it will end, but that its…