The Consolation of Philosophy (Oxford World's Classics) by Boethius

Author:Boethius [Boethius]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 1999-01-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 2

1

At this I exclaimed: ‘My goodness, what giant promises you make! I don’t doubt that you can redeem them, but now that you have excited me, don’t keep me waiting!

2

3

4

‘Well then,’ said she, ‘the first thing you will be able to grasp is that power always lies with the good, whereas all strength forsakes the wicked; * the one thesis is the corollary of the other. For since good and evil are opposites, once it is agreed that the good is powerful, the weakness of evil becomes clear. If on the one hand evil emerges as feeble, the strength of good is obvious. But to ensure that your confidence in my argument is more overwhelming, I shall develop it on both fronts, and thus make good my assertions from the two sides alternately.

5

6

7

‘The outcome of human actions is entirely dependent on two 5 things, will and capability. * If one of these two is absent, nothing can be accomplished. For if the will is lacking, people do not even embark on action which they have no wish to carry out; on the other hand, if they are incapable of doing it, it is vain to will it. It follows from this that if you observed someone wanting to acquire something but totally failing to get it, you can be certain that what he lacked was the ability to attain what he desired.’

‘That is obvious’, I said, ‘and indeed wholly undeniable.’

8

‘As for the man who you see has achieved his wish, you will surely be convinced that he had the capability?’

‘Absolutely,’ I replied.

9

‘In fact we must account each person strong in what he can achieve, and weak in what he cannot.’

‘I agree,’ I said.

10

‘You do remember’, she went on, ‘that our conclusion from our previous arguments was that the entire thrust of the human will as directed to various pursuits is to hasten towards happiness?’ *

‘Yes, I recall that this was established as well,’ I replied.

11

‘And do you not remember that happiness is the good itself, and that all men desire the good when happiness is their aim?’

‘Remembering is not the right word,’ I said. ‘I have that firmly fixed in the forefront of my mind.’

12

‘So all men, good and bad alike, strive with identical effort to attain the good?’

‘Yes, that follows,’ I said.

13

‘Now it is clear that men become good by acquiring the good?’

‘Yes, that is sure.’

‘So good men attain what they go after?’

‘It seems so.’

14

‘Now if evil men were to attain the good which they seek, they would not be evil.’

‘That is the case.’

15

‘So since both seek the good, but good men attain it while evil men certainly do not, can there be any doubt that good men have capability, whereas evil men are weak?’

16

‘If anyone does doubt it’, I observed, ‘he cannot be looking at reality, nor at the outcome of the arguments.’

17

She went on: ‘Then again, imagine that the two men are addressing the same natural objective. One successfully completes it while fulfilling his natural role;

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