Single Idea 5765

[catalogued under 29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 2. Immortality / a. Immortality]

Full Idea

Goodness is happiness, ..but we agree that those who attain happiness are divine. The reward of the good, then, is to become gods.

Gist of Idea

The reward of the good is to become gods

Source

Boethius (The Consolations of Philosophy [c.520], IV.III)

Book Reference

Boethius: 'The Consolations of Philosophy', ed/tr. Watts,V.E. [Penguin 1969], p.124


A Reaction

Kant offered a similar argument (see Idea 1455). Most of us are unlikely to agree with the second premise of Boethius' argument. The idea that we might somehow become gods gripped the imagination for the next thousand years.

Related Idea

Idea 1455 Belief in justice requires belief in a place for justice (heaven), a time (eternity), and a cause (God) [Kant, by PG]