Episode #017 ... Boethius

第 017 集...Boethius

Philosophize This‪!‬

社会与文化

2014-03-27

23 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

On this episode of the podcast, we learn about the medieval neoplatonist philosopher Boethius. We find out how he came to be wrongly convicted of treason and subsequently sentenced to death, and how this led him to write a philosophical text that solved one of the oldest problems in philosophy. We manage to compare the main characters of Boethius’ book to Lady Liberty and Eeyore selling a rice cooker on QVC, and explain why Boethius believed that we’re all just contestants on a never-ending episode of Wheel of Fortune. All this and more on the latest episode of Philosophize This! Thank you so much for listening! Could never do this without your help.  Website: https://www.philosophizethis.org/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philosophizethis  Social: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philosophizethispodcast X: https://twitter.com/iamstephenwest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philosophizethisshow
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单集文稿 ...

  • Thanks for listening to this episode.

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  • Try to imagine yourself trapped in a prison cell, convicted to death, no chance of an appeal,

  • and you know you're going to die soon in some horrific, painful way for something that you didn't even do.

  • If you were in that situation, how would you spend your time?

  • This isn't just me being dramatic.

  • Really try to put yourself in that situation and ask yourself, what would be important to you in that moment?

  • Boethius was a medieval, neo-Platanist philosopher who found himself in that moment.

  • Up until that point, he really had a pretty good standing in the world,

  • while considering he was living in a society that was growing increasingly corrupt and intolerant by the day.

  • I mean, the Roman Empire was crumbling at the time.

  • I guess as modern people we can look back and see where all that was heading,

  • but the people of the time didn't know that.

  • Boethius didn't know that.

  • And to top it off,

  • the entire peninsula of Italy was controlled by a group of wonderful gentlemen known as the Ostrogoths.

  • Let me tell you about who Boethius ended up working for.

  • Let me tell you about the Ostrogoths.