Consolations of Music, Logic, Theology and Philosophy

by Henry Chadwick

The Consolations of Philosophy by Boethius, whose English translators include King Alfred, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Queen Elizabeth I, ranks among the most remarkable books to be written by a prisoner awaiting the execution of a tyrannical death sentence. Its interpretation is bound up with his other writings on mathematics and music, on Aristotelian and propositional logic, and on central themes of Christian dogma. Chadwick begins by tracing the career of Boethius, a Roman rising to high office under the Gothic King Theoderic the Great, and suggests that his death may be seen as a cruel by-product of Byzantine ambitions to restore Roman imperial rule after its elimination in the West in AD 476. Subsequent chapters examine in detail his educational programme in the liberal arts designed to avert a threatened collapse of culture and his ambition to translate into Latin everything he could find on Plato and Aristotle. Boethius has been called 'last of the Romans, first of the scholastics'. This book is the first major study in English of a writer who was of critical importance in the history of thought.

Genres: Philosophy, Theology

330 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Henry Chadwick was a British academic, theologian and Church of England priest. A former dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford – and as such, head of Christ Church, Oxford – he also served as master of Peterhouse, Cambridge.
A leading historian of the early church, Chadwick was appointed Regius Professor at both the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He was a noted supporter of improved relations with the Catholic Church, and a leading member of the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission. An accomplished musician, having studied music to degree level, he took a leading part in the revision and updating of hymnals widely used within Anglicanism, chairing the board of the publisher Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. for 20 years.

Reviews

[Gabe Herrmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

It would be an interesting read, if I wanted to learn how Pythagoras formed enharmonic cords through odd and even numbers, but yeah I don't have that time right now. The little bit I read was well written though, and if you want a comprehensive text on music, logic, theology, and philosophy here you go.

[wyclif · Rating 5 out of 5]

The full range of Chadwick's considerable erudition is applied to this full-orbed and critical biographical study of Boethius as a churchman, statesman, philosopher, and theologian. Top-shelf scholarship and an important text for those interested in the fields of philosophy, patristics, and historical theology.