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Book III, Part III
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Consolation of Philosophy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Classical Philosophy and Medieval Christianity
Wisdom, Fortune, and Happiness
The Problem of Evil
Human Free Will and God’s Foreknowledge
Summary
Analysis
Now, Philosophy asks if “high office” leads to self-sufficient happiness. In fact, she says, “high office[s]” do not make people virtuous, but rather indulge and expose their worst vices. So people are worthy of office because of their virtue, not virtuous because they hold office. And therefore high offices are in no way intrinsically good. Indeed, when given power, “wicked men […] discredit” their offices, and someone’s high office will not win them any favor “among foreign peoples,” which also proves that high office does not inherently confer respect. Plus, the “dignity” of different positions or kinds of social status can change throughout history, depending on popular opinions. So high offices themselves aren’t desirable.
“Position” is the second of Philosophy’s five false paths to happiness. She repeats her argument from Book II: like money, offices have no moral value in themselves, but are given their moral value depending on who occupies them. This was Plato’s basis for arguing that only the virtuous and wise should take office—even though, because of their virtue and wisdom, they are unlikely to seek it out or want the great responsibility it entails. And the apparent social value of leadership roles, too, is based on context and history. For instance, Boethius served under Theodoric, who was technically the Emperor of Rome, but who had won that title by murdering the previous Emperor and taking the Roman government hostage, rather than through birthright, like previous rulers. As a result, he devalued the office he held, and the state over which he presided is no longer considered to have even been a continuation of the Roman Empire. (Accordingly, although he does not name Theodoric specifically, there is no doubt that Boethius was thinking about him when he wrote this passage.)
Themes
In another short verse, Philosophy remembers how Nero’s fancy clothes did nothing to win him favor, and how it was actually considered a disgrace to serve in his government.
No matter how many kings declared themselves chosen by God, Nero—like Theodoric—revealed the hollowness and arbitrariness of political office, which Philosophy would probably say is almost never given to the people who most deserve it.
Themes
