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  • Chapter 11 - Circle and Sphere Metaphors for God’s Nature and Providence in Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy and Dionysius’ On Divine Names

  • Edited by Michael Wiitala, Cleveland State University
  • Book:
    Boethius’ ‘Consolation of Philosophy’
    Published online:
    23 May 2024
    Print publication:
    30 May 2024, pp 186-201

  • Summary

    While it is common to compare Boethius’ philosophy with that of his intellectual predecessors and heirs, as far as I know there are no studies comparing Boethius and his most well-known Greek contemporary, Dionysius the Areopagite. Yet both were Christians who were inspired by Plato and deeply influenced by Proclean Neoplatonism. This chapter begins to fill this lacuna in the literature by comparing the way that Boethius in the Consolation of Philosophy and Dionysius in On Divine Names employ key Neoplatonic ideas and metaphors in speaking and thinking about God’s nature and providence. The chapter compares how Boethius and Dionysius employ Neoplatonic sphere and circle metaphors (1) to illustrate how God is both completely simple and yet also has, or rather is, a multiplicity of “attributes” or activities, and (2) to articulate the relationship between God and creatures in terms of remaining, proceeding, and reverting.