The Consolation of Philosophy Terms

God’s plan for the universe, considered from the perspective of God’s “divine reason itself.” This contrasts with Fate, which is the same plan, viewed from the temporal perspective of the material world. In… read analysis of Providence

The temporal events and processes that, together, enact God’s Providence, or His plan for the universe. Whereas Providence exists outside time and is an unchanging order, Fate is the “ever-changing web” of events… read analysis of Fate

Knowledge of future events, which Philosophy believes that God must possess by virtue of being all-knowing and all-powerful. In Book V, she and Boethius try to determine if there is a contradiction between God having… read analysis of Foreknowledge

People’s capacity to make free, autonomous decisions about what to do, rather than being compelled to act by some external force. Philosophy and Boethius worry that human free will, which Philosophy considers a logical requirement… read analysis of Human Free Will

The second of the four ways of knowing, which lies above sense-perception but below reason and intelligence. Imagining something captures the object’s “shape as constituted in matter,” but does not require that the imagined… read analysis of Imagination

The second-highest of the four ways of knowing, and the greatest one available to human beings. Philosophy argues that reason includes the insights of imagination and sense-perception, because the universal concepts that reason formulates… read analysis of Human Reason

The highest form of knowledge, which Philosophy argues is available only to God. To an extent unfathomable by human beings, this ability allows God to grasp “the simple form” of things, including humans themselves… read analysis of Intelligence

A necessity inherent in the nature of things: for instance, someone is mortal simply by virtue of their humanity. This contrasts with conditional necessity. Philosophy answers the question of how God’s foreknowledge is… read analysis of Simple Necessity

In contrast to simple necessity, conditional necessity relies on some information beyond the nature of things. For example, it is not conditionally necessary that someone is walking because they are a human being, but… read analysis of Conditional Necessity