Foundations for a Humanitarian Economy: Re-thinking Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, written by William D. Bishop

Abstract

Inthisshortbook,WilliamD.Bishopattemptstooutlineasetofeconomic principles which he presents as an alternative to those dominant today. He findstheseprinciplesinBoethius'sConsolation of Philosophy.Theseprinciples providetoolsforbothcritiqueandreplacement,withBishop'sreadingofthe Consolationattemptingtoidentifytheproblemswithintoday'seconomywhilst simultaneously suggesting itself as their solution. The broad project holds merit,andBishopsuccessfullyoutlinesseveralareaswhereBoethiusdoeshold interestandpotentialutilityforcontemporarysocialandeconomicdebates. However,thereareissueswiththebookand,unfortunately,theworkisnot entirelysuccessfulinarticulatingordefendingtheclaimsitputsforward.Bishop'sbookisshort,concludingat90pages,andiscomprisedofthree chapters.ChapteronepresentsBoethius'shistoricalandintellectualcontext. Chapter two turns to focus on the Consolation itself, proceeding through a section-by-sectionsummaryoftheentirework.Finally,inchapterthree,the argumentofthebookbeginsandBishoppresentswhatheseesasthe"economyofphilosophy'sconsolation"(39),focusinghisattentiononseveralmain areasorprincipleswhichheclaims,hereandinthebook'sconclusion,"supportre-rootingeconomics"(74)awayfromitscurrentneoliberalfoundation.Chapter one begins with a brief summary of the Consolation's historical background,spendingapproximatelyonepageintroducingthereadertothe RomeofBoethius.Afterthisone-pageintroduction,wemoveontoamorespe-cificbiographyofBoethiushimself,againspendingapproximatelyonepageon asummaryofhislifeleadingtohisfamousbanishmentanddeath.Duetothe brevityofdiscussion,onlythebriefestofoutlinesisgivenhere,however,for thoseunfamiliarwithBoethiusandhislifethissketchwouldusefullysituate theminpreparationforlaterdiscussions.Theremainderofthechapterthen gives an overview of the intellectual context, focusing particular attention on Plato and Aristotle, before then moving on to introduce the Consolation itselfandconcludewithadiscussionofitsreceptionandinfluence.Although brief,thischapteriswellwritten,easytofollow,andsuccessfullyintroduces the reader to the most important historical and contextual elements of the Consolation.Chapter two presents a section-by-section summary of the Consolation. Bishop isolates every section contained in each book, from book I to V, and presents a summary of each in turn. These summaries are short, typi-callybetween1-2paragraphsinlength,andtheyaremostlyfactual,givinga