---
title: "Book 2 Chapter 8: The Utility of Adversity"
date: 2020-07-12T21:43:00Z
series: "The Consolation of Philosophy"
image: img/1295493-1593380802865-ef6c3fc410551.jpg
enclosure: audio/podcast_2020-06-28_boethius-book-2-chapter-8.mp3
draft: false
---

{{< audio "https://gmgauthier.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/podcast/audio/podcast_2020-06-28_boethius-book-2-chapter-8.mp3" >}}

One service only can Fortune do, when she reveals her own nature and distinguishes true friends from false. Philosophy explains the utility of adversity to virtue, and regales us with a paean to divine love. Analysis: Boethius evokes a frustrated aspiration to reconcile Aristotle and Plato, and we begin the transition from Aristotelian virtue, to the Neoplatonic contemplation of The Good. I summarize **The Myth of Er, from Plato’s Republic**, and read a short quote from it, emphasizing the need for the contemplation of knowledge.