Claudio Moreschini focuses on selected and as yet still understudied aspects of Boethius' life and works. He presents Boethius in the culture of the sixth century in Italy, outlines his great cultural project and discusses the problem of his Christian faith. The Consolatio Philosophiae is examined from the point of view of Latin Platonism, highlighting the aims of its poetry and its philosophical tenets. Moreschini also shows how Boethius combined Christian faith and philosophy in order to (...) solve theological issues, most notably the Christological debates of his times or the question of the Trinity. (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)

The first fruits of the literary career of St. Augustine, the great theologian and Christian philosopher par excellence, are the dialogues he wrote at Cassiciacum in Italy following his famous conversion in Milan in 386 AD. These four little books, largely neglected by scholars, investigate knowledge, ethics, metaphysics, the problem of evil, and the intriguing relationship of God and the soul. They also take up the ancient philosophical project of identifying the principles and practices that heal human desires in (...) order to attain happiness, renewing this philosophical endeavor with insights from Christian theology. Augustine's later books, such as the Confessions, would continue this project of healing desire, as would the writings of others including Boethius, Anselm, and Aquinas. -/- Mark Boone's The Conversion and Therapy of Desire investigates the roots of this project at Cassiciacum, where Augustine is developing a Christian theology of desire, informed by Neoplatonism but transformed by Christian teaching and practices. (shrink)