Boethius, Stoicism and The Consolation of Philosophy

While I would recommend Boethius, and the Consolation of Philosophy, to all, I would not recommend Stoicism to anyone, for two reasons:

1. It encourages a banishment of feeling and emotion, and an unfeeling indifference to both pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow – a kind of psychic numbness, which, I would say, is a foolish and weak-minded response to life’s problems. Better by far is to feel, and feel deeply, and instead of banishing or repressing feeling and emotion, learn how, as the Buddhists and Taoists have shown, to master one’s own mind, and to be able to find, and ultimately, to maintain, inner calm and peace under any circumstances.

(You can slay the dragon, which has been the typical response in the West, as the grand master of world mythology, Joseph Campbell has said, or alternately, you can, as in the Eastern tradition, and frequently also in the mystical traditions of East and West alike, learn how to tame it, and to ride it. Guess which response is more skillful.)

Christian, Jewish, Moslem, Hindu, Jain, Indigenous, or secular approaches which emphasize clarity, calm, courage and compassion, in the face of adversity, and under all circumstances, are all, equally superior, by far, to that quagmire of the soul and rotting bog of the mind which is classical or modern Stoicism.

But, if you enjoy being a numbed and complacent, deaf, dumb and mute, obedient doormat, then the Stoics, or the Confucians, who are their Eastern counterpart, just might be for you.

2. Stoicism encourages indifference, apathy and complacency with regards to the affairs of the world, and in that, it encourages people to quietly know their place, to obey, conform, and shut up. Again, this is a weak-minded response to life’s problems.

Far better, is to take the approach of Liberation Theology, Buddhism, Taoism, or any spiritual or philosophical path which emphasizes wisdom, compassion, and an engagement in the world as an expression of compassionate action – with an inner fortitude that comes from not placing one’s faith in the ever changing and ever-fickle winds of circumstance, chance and fate.

But then again, I would hold that Boethius’ philosophy, while it has some clear correspondents or parallels with Stoicism, does not so neatly fit into the camp of Stoic philosophy.

Regardless, whether I am right or wrong, I still love Boethius, and the Consolation of Philosophy; and I would say, that if it is read in the spirit which I have described here – one, not of bland repression of all feeling, nor of blind and dumb conformity, apathy, complacency or obedience to authority, but a spirit of universal compassion and love which is at the same time imbued by a transcendent/imminent presence of mind and inner calm abiding, then Boethius is not only relevant today, but extremely important, and in fact, highly liberating.

J. Todd Ring,
January 31, 2021