Hi. Let's take a quick look at section 1 of Book 2 of the Consolation of Philosophy, and we'll
see some interesting things that Lady Philosophy says in introducing us to this new character, Fortune.
The chapter begins, the book begins, with Boethius noting that philosophy is silent
for a while, perhaps out of modesty, but allows Boethius to focus his attention.
And then she begins.
She says, “If I understand (what) you and your sickness properly, the situation is this:
that you are longing for your previous good fortune.”
You used to be doing quite well; you wish you were doing well again.
You're longing for a return to the way things used to be.
“It is this change in fortune that has prompted this depression that you're suffering from,” she says.
“Fortune, of course, is a monster, and she toys with those for whom she intends catastrophe,
showing her friendly face and lifting them up before dashing them down when they are
least prepared for it.” This is on page 27.
So what kind of person, what kind of woman, is Fortune?
Someone who toys with people, strings them along, lifts them up and then smashes them
down to the ground.
It would be of course ridiculous, it would be folly, for you to trust anyone who ever
treats you like this.
Whoever treats anyone like this not a trustworthy character, a monster, in fact, Lady Philosophy
says, speaking with this voice of philosophical wisdom.
“Think about that,” she says, “you know what she is like and how she behaves, and
you know too that anything you had from her hands was not worth having.”
None of her gifts are anything that you should assign value to or invest any of your personal self in.
The following page, skipping ahead a bit, she says, “Now what is it that is actually
upsetting you, and has driven you to such fits of weeping?
You have had a sharp bump and you think that Fortune’s attitude toward you has changed.
But you are wrong: she hasn't changed a bit.
She was always whimsical, and she remains constant to her inconstancy.”
So here's a quick description, a good summary of Fortune’s character: she's constant,
she's steady or predictable, only in being inconstant or unpredictable.
The only thing you know for sure about her is that she will betray you in the end.
There's no stable good to be had from Fortune.
“You were wrong to take her smiles seriously and to rely on them as the basis of your happiness.”
So what does it mean to take seriously Fortune’s smiles?
When Fortune smiles upon you, things are going well, you're having a run of good luck, (things…)
you have good health, you have good fortune, all your external goods seem to be in order
and increasing.
This is exactly what you should *not* rely upon as the foundation for your happiness,
says [Lady] Philosophy.
True to the philosophy of Plato, she's going to be urging Boethius to set his foundations
in something more secure: in his virtue and his mental possessions, his internal goods.
“Now that you have learned…
What you have learned now is that the changing face of blind power is unreliable and always was.”
Fortune’s not changed, Fortune’s the same.
You were under the delusion that you somehow could hold on to what she gave you.
She's torn it from your grasp now--this is why you're upset.
You're the problem, not Fortune being the problem.
“Other men may not understand this, but she has revealed herself entirely to you.”
In fact she says: this is one benefit you have, now that you have had this reversal
of fortune, you know, it's very powerfully present to you in your mind, it is wrong for
anybody to trust Fortune.
That's one of the great lessons of this book that people who read it for the next thousand
years and more are getting: Don't trust Fortune!
Even when it's good Fortune, maybe *especially* when it's good Fortune, don't trust it.
She says on page 29, “Or is it this lost happiness that you mourn?
Was that good fortune so dear to you, even though you should have understood that it
couldn't be trusted and was therefore never really yours.
It doesn't stay, it doesn't last, and when it leaves you are bereft,” you're upset?
“You should have recognized that it was never in your control, and that the visit
of that unreliable goddess is a sure sign of misery to come.
You should never confine your attention to what is before your eyes at the moment, but
consider too what the future is likely to bring.
If you knew the mutability,” the changeability, “of Fortune, then you should have inured
yourself against her constant threats of betrayal that too often inspire fear and flattery.”
So what is she saying here?
You should have realized that any good thing you had from Fortune was only temporary.
You should not have invested so much of yourself in your ability to hold on to it, knowing
that you could not in fact hold on to it, when push comes to shove.
She says on page 30: “If you spread your sails before the wind, then you must go where
the wind takes you, and not where you might wish to go.”
There's another image here, another important image: if you are throwing in with Fortune
you're going to go wherever Fortune leads, wherever the wind happens to blow, not where
you might *desire* to go.
“If you want to try farming and sow your seeds in the earth, then you must expect barren
years as well as years of abundance.
If you worship her,” Fortune, “then you are her slave and you cannot question her.”
So here's… Following Fortune is slavery, not freedom.
We're going to see, later on in the book, the way in which philosophy and an attention
to virtue and internal goods is going to bring a kind of freedom and liberation and a peace
of mind and a calm spirit this is going to be the source of true happiness.
“Would you presume to stop that wheel of hers from turning?
If you could do that it would no longer be the Wheel of Fortune would it?”
We have the first indication here of this wheel that Fortune turns.
We'll talk more about that image later in this book.
That's my comment for right now. Thanks for watching; goodbye.