The Consolation of Philosophy Links

Related Links on The Consolation of Philosophy

Article on Ancius Manlius Severinus Boethius - This site has a good overview of Boethius's main ideas and a short biography. Also a good site for exploring general philosophical ideas and terms.

History of Timekeeping -- Roman article - An article explaining Roman timekeeping, including the practice of shortening the hours of the summer night and lengthening them in the winter, in order to match the changing length of days according to season. Boethius refers to this when he mentions the "swifter hours of the night" in the poem at the beginning of Part V of Book I.

A discussion of Platonic dialogue form - Dr. Andrea Wilson Nightingale's book, Genres in Dialogue: Plato and the Construct of Philosophy on Plato's invention and expansion of philosophy, including the dialogue form used by Boethius. A book published in 1995, readable on Google Scholar.

The Problem of Evil - Colorado University Professor Michael Tooley's article on evil and morality, including theodicy, on Stanford's Encylopedia of Philosophy. A very complete discussion of the main points of theories of evil, and an introduction to theodicean thought.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's article on Boethius - An extensive and thorough article covering Boethius's life and works, his major philosophical ideas, and the arguments of the books of The Consolation of Philosophy. This includes an excellent bibliography and a list of his primary texts in Latin. The discussion of the ways to interpret The Consolation of Philosophy is particularly helpful.