"The Consolation of Philosophy"

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This paper presents the main arguments made by Boethius about the importance of philosophy. It shows how he believed philosophy was valuable for its insights into the way human beings seek solace in asking certain questions and seeking the answers. He saw philosophy as a means of learning more about God and of coming to grips with one's relationship to the rest of creation.

From the Paper:

"Philosophy is a way of looking at things and a way of examining and relating different things into a whole. Philosophy seeks to integrate the various areas of human interests and activities and in some way to explain life and its relatedness to nature or the universe or some outside construct. Different philosophers will answer the questions of philosophy in a different way, and their philosophy is built from those answers and from the method of thinking that produced those answers. We might ask why we should study philosophy if we are dedicated to practical matters and lack the time and inclination to delve into the kinds of questions philosophy asks, but this question itself assumes certain facts about philosophy that are not accurate. For one thing, philosophy is not something simply removed from the practical world, though philosophy in different eras may be more dedicated to less practical issues than at other times. Philosophy as practiced by the Greeks, for instance, was a precursor to science, as can be seen in the compendium of knowledge offered by Aristotle on issues of physics, astronomy, and nature. Philosophy asks questions everyone asks, questions about meaning, ethics, behavior, the afterlife, and so on. Knowledge in these areas is practical in a profound sense and should not be dismissed as useless, for it tells us how to live our lives and what values to place on our actions."

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