Table Of Contentthe cambridge companion to
BOETHIUS
Eachvolumeofthisseriesofcompanionstomajorphilosophers
contains specially commissioned essays by an international
team of scholars, together with a substantial bibliography,
andwillserveasareferenceworkforstudentsandnon-special-
ists. 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
