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1 results

  • Chapter 2 - The Ascent from Π to θ, or On Philosophy’s Teaching a Blind Man to See

  • Edited by Michael Wiitala, Cleveland State University
  • Book:
    Boethius’ ‘Consolation of Philosophy’
    Published online:
    23 May 2024
    Print publication:
    30 May 2024, pp 32-45

  • Summary

    There is a difference between being a philosopher and mastering the technical aspects of philosophy. The technician is at home with axioms and abstract problems. Although the philosopher can weave his way through apparently pathless conundra, the conundra are not the philosopher’s home; his home is reality: the τὸ τί ἐστι (being of things) that tend toward ὁ ἀγαθός (the good) and ἡ ἀλήθεια (the truth). When Boethius was unjustly condemned to death, he was a blind man when it came to reality: despite his technical prowess, he was stumped by the problem of evil. The Consolatio is an account of the ascent of the mind of a technician imprisoned by the painful experience of injustice to the mind of the philosopher who can see Providence at work in creation.