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Chapter 13 - Boethius on Human Freedom and Divine Foreknowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2024

By
Katherin Rogers
Edited by
Michael Wiitala
Michael Wiitala
Affiliation:
Cleveland State University
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Summary

Boethius’ initial question in the Consolation of Philosophy is why God, who orders the natural universe beautifully, would allow human affairs to proceed in a chaotic fashion, even permitting the wicked to trample on the virtuous and go unpunished. Lady Philosophy responds that God governs everything well. What seem to limited human beings to be misfortunes can all be turned to good. This introduces the importance of human free will and a perennial question for Christian philosophers: If God foreknows future choices, can they be free? Human foreknowledge is a sign that the foreknown event does not happen voluntarily. God, being eternal, sees all time as present, and so divine foreknowledge does not impose or indicate any necessity that would conflict with free will. Boethius concludes by expressing theist compatibilism: Even free choices fall under the absolute sovereignty of God.

Keywords

theist compatibilismcompatibilismfree willforeknowledgeeternityisotemporalismdivine sovereigntylibertarianismBoethiusConsolation of Philosophy
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Chapter
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Boethius’ ‘Consolation of Philosophy’
A Critical Guide
 , pp. 220 - 234
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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