The Confliction of Good and Evil

The Confliction of Good and Evil

In Boethius’s book, The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius talks to Lady Philosophy about the pursuit of happiness, fate and free will, good, God, and evil, and fortune. Of all these important things, good, God, and evil are the most significant topics of their conversations. Boethius talks to Lady Philosophy about evil and why it does not get punished every time. He also asks her about the goodness of humans and why they sometimes do not have as much power as the evil. He also wants to know about God and why he allows evil and does not make good more powerful and rewarding. Lady Philosophy explains these topics to Boethius and helps him better understand life as a whole.

Boethius wonders out loud to Lady Philosophy about why evil occurs. He says that evil occasionally passes without even any punishment. He cannot understand why this could ever happen, but yet it happens all the time. This quotation occurs when Boethius is talking to Lady Philosophy, “But the greatest cause of my sadness is really this – that in spite of good helmsman to guide the world, evil can still exist and even pass unpunished. This fact alone you must surely think of considerable wonder.”(Page 85). This quotation is from Lady Philosophy when she is explaining to Boethius that evil is always weak and good is always strong. “Think of the extent of the weakness impeding the wicked. It is not as if the prizes they failed to win were mere sports trophies. The quest in which they fail is the quest for the highest and most important of all things, and success is denied these wretched men in the very pursuit they toil at night and day to the exclusion of all else, the same pursuit in which the strength of the good stands ...

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...at evil men do have power, I would say that this power of theirs comes from weakness rather than strength.” (91). She says the power that it seems like evil has comes from all their weakness and so there for it cannot be true power.

Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy, is full of great questions and answers about philosophy. Boethius is in jail and is going to be executed for falsely accusing Senator Albinus of treason. He also was put in jail for sacrilegious acts of practicing mathematics and astrology. He thinks that it is unfair that he is going to be executed for those crimes. He writes this book while he is incarcerated. Speaking to Lady Philosophy about happiness, fate and free will, good, God, and evil, and fortune helps him figure life out. He was able to live in his cell with peace because of the knowledge he gained from talking to Lady Philosophy.