"The unexamined life is not worth living," said Socrates; conversely, the examined life--that which transcends bodily concerns to pursue truth and moral perfection--is the only life lived excellently. Philosophy does not just bring consolation; it is a consolation in itself. To philosophize is to inquire the true nature of things, which forces Boethius to look past physical ailments (i.e., bodily imprisonment, fortune, etc.) and refocus on who he is essentially. Lady Philosophy tells him,
I know [a] cause of your sickness, and the most important: you have forgotten what you are. [You] are confused because you have forgotten what you are, and, therefore, you are upset because you are in exile and stripped of all your possessions.Boethius' real exile is not King Theodoric imprisoning him, but his self-imposed exile from reason to despair, intellectual prostitution from one Lady to several Muses who offer empty comfort. For the Muses, says Lady Philosophy,
cannot offer medicine for his sorrows; they will nourish him only with their sweet poison. They kill the fruitful harvest of reason with the sterile thorns of the passions; they do not liberate the minds of men from disease, but merely accustom them to it.Philosophy does not wish to mask his sickness, but cure it; not to suppress his rationality, but foster it; not to gloss over his true essence, but embrace it. Who is Boethius? Not the outward flesh that succumbs to passion, but the rational mind that dwells within crude matter--a virtual "ghost in the machine." The king can injure, maim and destroy Boethius' flesh, but he cannot touch Boethius himself. Therein lies his consolation.
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| "Ghost in the Shell" - 1995 film based Masamune Shirow's hit manga |
It should go without saying that Boethius uses the mind-is-good/flesh-is-bad dichotomy familiar to Greek thought.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Philosophy would not allow Boethius to wallow in self-pity or allow himself to be subdued by misery. She showed him that the physical, transitory pleasures and pains he thought so important really gave no lasting benefit or wound. I like your point that Boethius himself cannot be affected by physical torment. Philosophy set him above mere material.
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