(2004). Is There a History of Educational Philosophy? John White vs the historical evidence. Educational Philosophy and Theory: Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 35-56.

Contemporary work on Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy often overlooks a discussion in CP.V.3 of a Peripatetic strategy for dissolving theological fatalism. Boethius’ treatment of this strategy and the lesson it provides about divine foreknowledge requires a reorientation of our understanding of the Consolation text. The result is that it is not foreknowledge nor any other temporally-conditioned knowledge that motivates Boethian concern but divine knowledge simpliciter.

In book one of the Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius is portrayed as a man who suffers because he forgot philosophy. Scholars have underestimated the significance of this portrayal and considered it a literary device the goal of which is simply to introduce the discussion that follows. In this paper, I show that this view is mistaken since it overlooks that this portrayal of Boethius is the key for the understanding of the whole text. The philosophical therapy that constitutes the core (...) of the ?Consolation? can in fact be properly evaluated only if we recognize the condition it is designed to cure. Through the portrayal of Boethius's forgetfulness, the ?Consolation? illustrates that it is the very nature of philosophical knowledge that makes it susceptible to being forgotten. Philosophical knowledge can (i) turn into misology, when it appears unable to solve certain problems, and (ii) be overrun by strong emotions. The therapy offered in the ?Consolation? is designed to make Boethius aware of the ?fragility? of philosophical knowledge and show him how to ?strengthen? it. He is taught how to more fully embody philosophy's precepts and that philosophy's inability to solve certain problems reveals not its failures but its limits. (shrink)

Riassunto Il patronato letterario era un sistema di relazioni sociali diffuso nell’Italia Ostrogota, come attestano le opere di Ennodio, Boezio, Cassiodoro e Arator. Ennodio cercò a lungo un dives patronus che fosse in grado di dare fama alle sue opere, mentre Boezio, grazie al sostegno di Simmaco, ottenne in breve tempo grande notorietà, tanto che Teoderico cercò di farlo entrare a corte. Cassiodoro è l’esempio più noto del patronato teodericiano, mentre Arator rivela che anche i membri del clero furono importanti (...) mecenati. Questi autori permettono di comprendere i motivi che spinsero i letterati a cercare un patrono e le principali caratteristiche del patronato senatorio, regio ed ecclesiastico, oltre a testimoniare l’importanza degli studia litterarum nell’Italia tardoantica e le strategie di legittimazione adottate dai sovrani ostrogoti. (shrink)