After Stoicism: Last Words of the Last Roman Philosopher

by Thomas M. Ward

The Stoic philosophers of antiquity recognized something we often forget. Good fortune does not guarantee happiness, and bad fortune does not guarantee misery.

Boethius was the last philosopher of ancient Rome and a Christian theologian. He was also an illustrious senator who suffered a spectacular reversal of fortune. Falsely accused of treason and sentenced to death, he spent several months in prison awaiting his execution. For consolation he turned to the Stoics he had spent his life studying. They helped him to remember that the good things he once enjoyed—wealth, power, fame—could not make him truly happy. Also, that the injustice he suffered need not make him miserable.

But the Stoics were not the only philosophers Boethius sought for consolation. The Stoics had taught that the highest happiness we can hope for is tranquility—serene indifference despite all the trials of life. But for Boethius, tranquility was not enough. He reached for something beyond Stoicism. Something that promised true happiness, come what may.

This book is a guide through Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy. It shows how Boethius, in his darkest hour, took everything noble from Stoicism and fused it with a rational and religious conviction that there is a hope for happiness through and beyond the suffering of this life.

Genres: Philosophy

216 pages, Hardcover

Published October 21, 2024

About the author

Thomas M. Ward is a philosopher at The University of Texas at Austin in the School of Civic Leadership.

Reviews

[Scott Bielinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic.

"The best that philosophy can do, when it comes to divine things, is not nearly good enough. But it is still good." (171)

[Noah Senthil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Far more than a commentary on Boethius’s “On the Consolation of Philosophy,” but no less than one. This was a splendid book, as timely as anything I’ve read recently. Ward is pedagogical master. His illustrations and analogies are not throwaway filler. They’re tools for explaining the concepts in interesting, engaging, and memorable ways. I really enjoyed this all the way to the end. The merits of Stoicism are expounded, along with its limits and deficiencies, but Ward is really leading us down the same path that Lady Philosophy leads Boethius down. It’s the path to virtue and ultimate happiness (beatitude) in God.

The last Roman philosopher was above all else a Christian philosopher. And he was, no doubt, one of the best we’ve ever had.

[Taylor Roche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Cannot recommend highly enough for any who long for deeper insights into Goodness, hope, and a life of virtue.

[Matthew Glaze · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes you walk through the thick fog of philosophy for much of the way. You hold out hope that it will begin to finally make sense, that surely you’re not this dull. And by the time you reach chapters 8 and 9 you’re in intellectual bliss. The thoughts fall together smoothly like well shaped puzzle pieces. You find joy in the labor of the work, and you feel better for having done it.

At least, that was my experience and I hope you will have a similar one if you choose to read this book. It’s quite good.

[JR Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great meditation on Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy. Ward argues that the consolation of philosophy is a help to us in suffering because it gives us reasons to believe in a greater Good rather than to trust in lesser goods or in fortune/circumstances. Ultimately, though, Philosophy is limited and has to point to faith for ultimate hope. Thus, The consolation is then, despite what some say, a thoroughly Christian work which isn't substituting philosophy for theology or satirically demonstrating the futility of philosophy.

Ward goes deep into philosophy but the style and language is very approachable–very little technical language. The fact that it's published by an "Academic" press is a bit misleading. There are other more technical guides to Boethius like Henry Chadwicks if you want that.

The one fault with the book I have is that the section discussing free will and sovereignty is far too simplistic. His arguments for the compatibility of free will and God's foreknowledge are laughable. Ward seems like a fine philosopher, so I'll chalk this up to him trying too hard to lay out the issues for newcomers to the topic.

But even a child can see through the argument that because I see someone making soup I know it; without causing him to make soup (and thus for God). This is a category mistake–knowledge of the present and knowledge of the future. I have zero knowledge of what he will do a millisecond from now, and God does. How does God have certain knowledge of all things unless he determines (yes, in a mysterious way and not directly!) what the future will be? (p. 168). Ward could have but doesn't distinguish between differing kinds of human agency or different kinds of causation, which would have helped to untangle his arguments.

[Sven · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book to be a completely unreadable mess. The author constantly jumps between Boethius and random, modern pop-culture references and analogies. Seems less like Boethius' last words, and a more bunch of random thoughts Ward got past his editor. Really surprised this got published under the Word on Fire Academic imprint; it lacks their standard rigor.

[Michael Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding.

[Trevor Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really helpful commentary on and modern application of Boethius’ “Consolation of Philosophy.”