On Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy, pt. 3

A Book-by-Book Guide

“What is happiness? It’s the moment before you need more happiness!”

—Don Draper, Mad Men

There are few words or concepts more central to ancient thought than “happiness.” The same could perhaps be said of us living today in America; our national creed after all is “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” But whereas the American creed talks about happiness as identical to pleasure and individualistic fulfillment, the ancients had a much more robust understanding of what “happiness” is. Unlike us today for whom happiness is a fleeting state of personal contentment (articulated beautifully by Don Draper in AMC’s celebrated television show Mad Men), the ancients understood true happiness as the stability of personal—but not individualistic—fulfillment and of activity in accordance with virtue. Happiness for ancients like Aristotle and Boethius consists in the realization and perfection of those very things that make us human. (Spoilers: for both thinkers, it will have to do with contemplation! More on that later…). In the case of the ancients, happiness is not something fickle, determined by external good fortune, and subject to change depending on our circumstances. As we move into book 3 of Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, we will follow Lady Philosophy’s guidance by rejecting false idols of happiness in favor of what can bring us to true and perfect happiness.

An Outline of Book 3:

• Having done the gentle work of disengaging Boethius from Fortune, Philosophy must now do the harder work of leading Boethius to true happiness. This will involve two steps:

  • First, exposing fake images of happiness;

  • Second, showing the definition and form of true happiness.

• “Happiness” is characterized in 3.2.2ff:

  • 1) All actions strive for happiness;

  • 2) We deserve nothing beyond it because it is the highest of all good things;

  • 3) Happiness is a “state” of the convergence of all good things (echoing Aristotle)

• Given all of this, why are we so miserable?

  • Though the desire for the true good is implanted in our minds naturally, miscalculations lead humans to secure (or try to secure) this state by different routes by way of false goods.

  • What are these common false goods?

    • Riches and self-sufficiency;

    • Esteem, honor;

    • Positions of power;

    • Renown;

    • Physical pleasure.

  • Philosophy spends the next several chapters going through each of these false goods and exposing the ways they fail to satisfy us. She does this to help Boethius find the proper path to return to his homeland (the true good/God/eternity).

    • “When they [false goods] have amassed the burdensome bulk they crave, the false goods, let them know the true” (3.9.20).

    • The path to the true good leads through the false goods.

• Philosophy then turns her attention to the question of true happiness. To do this, she must articulate the substance, the characteristics (excellences), and the source of happiness (3.9). Boethius is eager.

  • Together (!!) they identify 5 aspects of happiness:

    • Self-sufficiency;

    • Power;

    • Renown;

    • Preeminence;

    • Delight

  • True and perfect happiness brings about all of these things together, as a unity (3.9.27)

  • This conclusion raises the question of the source of happiness, from which Boethius can seek out true happiness. Philosophy invokes the Father of all things in both poetry and prayer.

  • To discuss the source of true happiness, Philosophy shows Boethius where the perfection of happiness is established (3.10):

    • It lies in a steadfast and perfect good (3.10.6)

    • Philosophy then invokes perfect being theology to show that the perfect good is in God (or else God would lack some perfection). Since true happiness lies in the perfect good, happiness is to be found in God (3.10.10).

    • But, because of the doctrine of divine simplicity, God’s substance and the substance of true happiness are not different. Thus: God is happiness itself (3.10.17).

      • But given the nature of human beings, people become happy by securing happiness for themselves, so they must become God not by nature but by participation (3.10.25).

  • To sum up: the 5 excellences::happiness::the Good::God

• There follows a discussion of the desire for unity (3.11). This is followed by a turn to the question of evil as privation (privatio boni).

  • To set up this turn to the question of theodicy (why evil?), Philosophy states the following:

    • God governs the world through goodness: all things desire this rule according to their nature;

    • Therefore nothing can preserve its own nature while opposing God;

    • Nothing desires to or could achieve its attempt to move against God;

    • Is there anything God can’t do? No.

      • So: what about evil? Can God do that? No.

      • So evil is nothing since there is nothing God cannot do.

• The book ends with a poem invoking Orpheus and Eurydice: a stark warning not to look back into hell as they ascend toward heaven.

Reading Questions for Book 3:

--How does Philosophy conceive of happiness in book 3? How similar is this to Aristotle's definition of happiness?

--What are the key false goods? Do you agree with this list?

--What are the five aspects of true happiness? Do you agree with this list? Is it significant that Boethius and Philosophy compile this list together?

--How does Philosophy explain God and God's relation to evil?