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Philosopher · Patristic

St. Severinus Boethius

c. 480–524 · Christian Neoplatonism and Latin Aristotelianism

Saint Latin

Venerated as a martyr at Pavia; cult confirmed by Pope Leo XIII in 1883.

Roman senator and consul under the Ostrogoth Theoderic, executed on a charge of treason. He translated and commented on Aristotle's logic, wrote the short theological tractates that gave the West its definition of person (“an individual substance of a rational nature”), and in prison composed The Consolation of Philosophy, a dialogue in prose and verse on fortune, providence, evil, free will and eternity as “the whole, simultaneous and perfect possession of endless life.”

Why he matters: For six centuries he was the West's teacher of logic and of the problem of universals, and his reconciliation of divine foreknowledge with human freedom and his definition of eternity entered St. Thomas's Summa.

Reading

  • The Consolation of Philosophy
    Boethius · Book V on providence and freedom is the summit.
    Journal
  • The Theological Tractates (Opuscula Sacra)
    Boethius · On the Trinity and Against Eutyches and Nestorius.
    Journal
  • Boethius: The Consolations of Music, Logic, Theology, and Philosophy
    Henry Chadwick · The standard study.
    Journal

Documented positions

Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.

Settled teaching Its center Open question Beyond teaching, not condemned Condemned error
I

God and Being · What is, and whence it is.

Can reason know that God exists? Natural theology
Fideism or agnosticism Natural theology
How is God related to the world? Creation from nothing
Pantheism or emanation Creation from nothing
Is the world governed by purpose? Providence and final causes
Chance and mechanism Providence and final causes
Do natures and essences really exist? Realism
Nominalism Realism
God's essence and His energies Absolute simplicity
Essence–energies distinction Absolute simplicity
How should we speak of God? Cataphatic (analogical) way
Apophatic (negative) way Cataphatic (analogical) way
How does creation speak of God? A book of signs and vestiges
Natures studied in their own right A book of signs and vestiges
II

Faith, Reason and Truth · How we know, and whom we trust.

Faith and reason: who has the last word? Rationalism
Rationalism Fideism
Where does knowledge begin? Illumination and innate ideas
Senses and abstraction Illumination and innate ideas
Is truth objective? Objective truth
Relativism and pragmatism Objective truth
Who interprets revelation? Living Tradition and Magisterium
Private judgment Living Tradition and Magisterium
What is theology for? A science ordered to knowing
A science ordered to knowing A wisdom ordered to loving
Are the world's learning and arts a danger or a gift? A gift to be baptized
A danger: Athens has nothing to do with Jerusalem A gift to be baptized
III

The Human Person · Soul, body, freedom and the Fall.

Is there a spiritual soul? Immortal spiritual soul
Mind is brain Immortal spiritual soul
Is the body really you? Dualism
Dualism Body–soul unity
Are you free? Free will
Determinism Free will
Does nature desire God? Natural desire for the vision of God
Pure nature Natural desire for the vision of God
What makes you this one and no other? A positive thisness (haecceity)
This matter, this body A positive thisness (haecceity)
What is suffering for? A share in the Cross
An evil to be relieved A share in the Cross
IV

The Moral Life · Law, virtue, conscience and the good.

Is morality objective and knowable? Natural law
Relativism Natural law
Why is the good good? Eternal law (intellectualism)
Divine command (voluntarism) Eternal law (intellectualism)
Are some acts always wrong? Intrinsically evil acts
Consequentialism Intrinsically evil acts
Rules or character? Morality of virtue and beatitude
Morality of obligation Morality of virtue and beatitude
What is happiness? Beatitude in God
Earthly flourishing Beatitude in God
V

Grace and Salvation · How God saves, and whom.

How does grace move the will? Molinist
Thomist (Bañezian) Molinist
VI

Church and Society · Authority, the state, wealth and the nation.

Where does authority come from? Authority from God
Social contract Authority from God
VII

Worship, Prayer and the Two Lungs · Liturgy, icons, the Spirit, and the See of Peter.

The procession of the Holy Spirit From the Father and the Son (Filioque)
From the Father through the Son From the Father and the Son (Filioque)

A profile of your philosophical and theological leanings, measured against the settled teaching of the Catholic Church, East and West. It is a tool for examination and reading, not an instrument of judgment.

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.