Previous
Book IV, Part IV
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
Boethius doubts that Philosophy’s depiction of good and evil fully explains “good and bad in the actual fortune of ordinary people.” But he sees in Rome that bad people are often rewarded while good people are punished, and he wants to understand how “this very unjust confusion” can be part of all-powerful God’s plan. Why would God satisfy the evil at the expense of the good, and how can one tell the difference between God and simple chance?
Just like many readers, Boethius continues to wonder whether Philosophy’s worldview, which is based largely on a theory of God, the soul, and the cosmos, should really be used to make everyday decisions. Like many Medieval Christian thinkers, Philosophy seems to believe that people should let themselves be oppressed because it will bring them closer to God.
Themes
Philosophy replies that Boethius simply does not yet see “the great plan of the universe,” but will soon do so, and she sings about the greatness of “the law observed in heaven,” which explains mysteries like the workings of the Sun. While some natural phenomena are seen as easy to explain, other phenomena confound people, until they let “the clouds of ignorance give way.”
Philosophy does not answer Boethius’s question except by referring him back to the picture of God that she has offered and promising that wisdom will clarify his doubts. Again, she sees people as mostly ignorant of the truth, which lies in God and the soul.
Themes
