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the cambridge companion to BOETHIUS Eachvolumeofthisseriesofcompanionstomajorphilosophers contains specially commissioned essays by an international team of scholars, together with a substantial bibliography, andwillserveasareferenceworkforstudentsandnon-specialists. One aim of the series is to dispel the intimidation such readersoftenfeelwhenfacedwiththeworkofadifficultand challengingthinker. Boethius(c.480–c.525/6),thoughaChristian,workedinthe traditionoftheNeoplatonicschools,withtheirstronginterest in Aristotelian logic and Platonic metaphysics. He is best knownfor hisConsolationof Philosophy,whichhewrotein prison while awaiting execution, and which was a favourite source for medieval philosophers and poets like Dante and Chaucer.Hisworksalsoincludealongseriesoflogicaltrans- lations, commentaries and monographs and some short but densely argued theological treatises, all of which were enor- mously influential on medieval thought. But Boethius was more than a writer who passed on important ancient ideas to the Middle Ages. The essays here, by leading specialists, which coverall the main aspects of his writing and its influ- ence, show that he was a distinctive thinker, whose argu- ments repay careful analysis and who used his literary talents in conjunction with his philosophical abilities to presentacomplexviewoftheworld. Newreaderswillfindthisthemostconvenient,accessible guidetoBoethiuscurrentlyavailable.Advancedstudentsand specialists will find a conspectus of recent developments in theinterpretationofBoethius. JOHN MARENBON is a Senior Research Fellow at Trinity College,Cambridge.HispublicationsincludeThePhilosophy ofPeterAbelard(1997,1999)andBoethius(2003). Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009 Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009 othervolumesintheseriesofcambridgecompanions ABELARD Editedbyjeffrey e. brower andkevin guilfoy ADORNO Editedbythomas huhn ANSELM Editedbybrian davies andbrian leftow AQUINAS Editedbynorman kretzmann and eleonore stump ARABICPHILOSOPHY Editedbypeteradamsonand richard c. taylor HANNAH ARENDT Editedbydana villa ARISTOTLE Editedbyjonathan barnes ATHEISM Editedbymichael martin AUGUSTINE Editedbyeleonore stump and norman kretzmann BACON Editedbymarkku peltonen BERKELEY Editedbykenneth p. winkler BRENTANO Editedbydale jacquette CARNAP Editedbymichael friedman and richard creath CRITICAL THEORY Editedbyfred rush DARWIN 2ndedn Editedbyjonathan hodge and gregory radick SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR Editedbyclaudia card DESCARTES Editedbyjohn cottingham DUNS SCOTUS Editedbythomas williams EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHY Editedbya.a. long EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY Editedby donald rutherford FEMINISM IN PHILOSOPHY Editedby miranda fricker andjennifer hornsby FOUCAULT 2ndedn Editedbygary gutting FREUD Editedbyjerome neu GADAMER Editedbyrobert j. dostal GALEN Editedbyr.j. hankinson GALILEO Editedbypeter machamer GERMAN IDEALISM Editedbykarl ameriks GREEK AND ROMAN PHILOSOPHY Editedby david sedley Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009 HABERMAS Editedbystephen k. white HAYEK Editedbyedward feser HEGEL Editedbyfrederick c. beiser HEGEL AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY PHILOSOPHY Editedbyfrederick c. beiser HEIDEGGER 2ndedn Editedbycharles guignon HOBBES Editedbytom sorell HOBBES’S ‘LEVIATHAN’ Editedby patricia springborg HUME 2ndedn Editedbydavid fate norton and jacqueline taylor HUSSERL Editedbybarry smith anddavid woodruff smith WILLIAM JAMES Editedbyruth anna putnam KANT Editedbypaul guyer KANT AND MODERN PHILOSOPHY Editedby paul guyer KEYNES Editedbyroger e. backhouse andbradley w. bateman KIERKEGAARD Editedbyalastair hannay and gordon daniel marino LEIBNIZ Editedbynicholas jolley LEVINAS Editedbysimon critchley and robert bernasconi LOCKE Editedbyvere chappell LOCKE’S ‘ESSAY CONCERNING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING’ Editedbylex newman LOGICAL EMPIRICISM Editedbyalan richardson andthomas uebel MAIMONIDES Editedbykenneth seeskin MALEBRANCHE Editedbysteven nadler MARX Editedbyterrell carver MEDIEVAL JEWISH PHILOSOPHY Editedbydaniel h. frank andoliver leaman MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY Editedbya.s. mcgrade MERLEAU-PONTY Editedbytaylor carman and mark b.n. hansen MILL Editedbyjohn skorupski MONTAIGNE Editedbyullrich langer Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009 NEWTON Editedbyi. bernard cohen andgeorge e. smith NIETZSCHE Editedbybernd magnus and kathleen higgins OCKHAM Editedbypaul vincent spade THE ‘ORIGIN OF SPECIES’ Editedbymichael ruse androbert j. richards PASCAL Editedbynicholas hammond PEIRCE Editedbycheryl misak THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGY Editedbydavid l. hull andmichael ruse PLATO Editedbyrichard kraut PLATO’S ‘REPUBLIC’ Editedbyg.r.f. ferrari PLOTINUS Editedbylloyd p. gerson QUINE Editedbyroger f. gibson JR RAWLS Editedbysamuel freeman RENAISSANCE PHILOSOPHY Editedby james hankins THOMAS REID Editedbyterence cuneo andrene´ van woudenberg ROUSSEAU Editedbypatrick riley BERTRAND RUSSELL Editedbynicholas griffin SARTRE Editedbychristina howells SCHOPENHAUER Editedbychristopher janaway THE SCOTTISH ENLIGHTENMENT Editedby alexander broadie ADAM SMITH Editedbyknud haakonssen SPINOZA Editedbydon garrett THE STOICS Editedbybrad inwood TOCQUEVILLE Editedbycheryl b. welch WITTGENSTEIN Editedbyhans sluga and david stern Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009 Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009 The Cambridge Companion to BOETHIUS Edited by John Marenbon Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore, SãoPaulo,Delhi CambridgeUniversityPress TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB28RU,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress, NewYork www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521694254 ©CambridgeUniversityPress2009 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout thewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2009 PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata TheCambridgecompaniontoBoethius/editedbyJohnMarenbon. p. cm. ISBN978-0-521-87266-9 1. Boethius,d.524. 2. Philosophy,Medieval. I. Marenbon,John. II. Title. B659.Z7C36 2009 189–dc22 2009007336 ISBN978-0-521-87266-9hardback ISBN978-0-521-69425-4paperback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityfor thepersistenceoraccuracyofURLsforexternalor third-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhisbook, anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009 contents Listofcontributors pagexi ListofabbreviationsofBoethius’works xiv Listofabbreviations xv Introduction:readingBoethiuswhole 1 john marenbon PartI BeforetheConsolation 11 1 Boethius’lifeandtheworldoflateantique philosophy 13 john moorhead 2 TheAristoteliancommentator 34 sten ebbesen 3 Thelogicaltextbooksandtheirinfluence 56 christopher j. martin 4 Boethiusonutterances,understandingandreality 85 margaret cameron 5 TheOpusculasacra:Boethiusandtheology 105 david bradshaw 6 Themetaphysicsofindividualsinthe Opusculasacra 129 andrew arlig 7 ThemedievalfortunesoftheOpusculasacra 155 christophe erismann ix Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009