The Longest Transference: Self-Consolation and Politics in Latin Philosophical Literature by Clifford Robinson Department of Classical Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Peter Burian, Supervisor ___________________________ Jed W. Atkins ___________________________ Michael Hardt ___________________________ Micaela W. Janan ___________________________ William A. Johnson Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Classical Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University i 2014 v ABSTRACT The Longest Transference: Self-Consolation and Politics in Latin Philosophical Literature by Clifford Robinson Department of Classical Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Peter Burian, Supervisor ___________________________ Jed W. Atkins ___________________________ Michael Hardt ___________________________ Micaela W. Janan ___________________________ William A. Johnson An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Classical Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University i 2014 v Copyright by Clifford Robinson 2014 Abstract This dissertation identifies Cicero’s Consolatio, Seneca’s Ad Polybium de consolatione, and Boethius’ De consolatione Philosophiae as self-consolations, in which these Roman authors employ philosophical argument and literary art, in order to provide a therapy for their own crippling experiences of grief. This therapeutic discourse unfolds between two contradictory conditions, though, since the philosophers must possess the self-mastery and self-possession that qualifies the consoler to perform his task felicitously, and they must lack those very same qualifications, insofar as their experience of loss has exposed their dependence upon others and they thus require consolation. Foucault’s theoretical treatment of ancient philosophical discourse is supplemented by Lacanian critical theory and the political philosophy of Giorgio Agamben to perform analyses of the consolatory texts and their political context. These analyses reveal that self-consolation overcomes the contradictory conditions that found this discourse through literary and rhetorical artifice. But this resolution then places the apparent completeness of the philosophical argument in doubt, as the consoled authors in each case finally call for a decisive action that would join philosophical reflection to the merely human world that philosophy would have these consolers leave behind. Each author’s self-consolation therefore demonstrates a split allegiance to the Roman political community and to a Socratic philosophical heritage that advocates for withdrawal from politics. iv To Carolyn What good are words between those who share love? v Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgement .............................................................................................................. x Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Strategies of Self-Consolation in Fronto’s De nepote amisso ...................................... 6 Consolation and the Problem of Self-Consolation ..................................................... 14 Literature Review: Past Attempts at a General View ................................................. 17 Part I: 19th century .................................................................................................... 18 Part II: Early 20th century ......................................................................................... 23 Part III: Later 20th century ....................................................................................... 27 Part IV: 21st century ................................................................................................. 32 On Method: Discourse Analysis I and II .................................................................... 39 Discourse Analysis I: Foucault on Subjectivation and Forms of Life ...................... 40 Discourse Analysis II: Agamben and Lacan on Desubjectification ......................... 48 Literature Review, II: Self-Consolation as a Mode of Philosophical Consolation ..... 53 Thesis and Outline: Self-Consolation in Latin Philosophical Literature .................... 57 Part 1: Self-Consolation in Boethius’ De consolatione Philosophiae .............................. 65 Chapter 1: Literary and Political Context for Boethius’ Consolation .............................. 65 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 65 1.2. Politics vs. Christianity ........................................................................................ 72 1.3. Socratic Dialogue and Menippean Satire ............................................................. 80 1.4. Philosophia’s Arrival ........................................................................................... 86 vi 1.5. Boethius’ Melancholia ......................................................................................... 96 1.6. Political Downfall .............................................................................................. 113 1.6.1. Transference and the Other Scene ................................................................ 113 1.6.2. Theoderic’s Sovereign Power and the State of Exception ............................ 122 1.6.3. State of Exception, Boethius, and Bare life .................................................. 142 Chapter 2: Boethius’ Consolation, Books I-III ............................................................... 150 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 150 2.2. Bare Life, Melancholia, and Fantasy ................................................................. 153 2.3. Philosophia’s Therapy of Desire ........................................................................ 158 2.3.1. Philosophia’s Analysis of the Symptoms ..................................................... 160 2.3.2. Philosophia’s Treatment ............................................................................... 167 2.3.3. Conclusions from this Section ...................................................................... 182 2.4. Constructing the Palace: Security and Philosophical Monarchy ....................... 189 Chapter 3: Boethius’ Consolation, Books IV-V ............................................................. 207 3.1. Life, Death, and the Drive toward Unity ........................................................... 207 3.2. Divine Dispositio or the Providence-Fate Apparatus ........................................ 214 3.3. Boethius’ Position before the Divine Dispositio ............................................... 223 3.4. Exemplum, or the Singular Universal ................................................................ 230 3.4.1. Orpheus and Eurydice ................................................................................... 232 3.4.2. Odysseus and his crew on Circe’s Island ...................................................... 234 3.4.3. From Odysseus and Agamemnon to Hercules .............................................. 239 3.5. The Eternal Life of the Divine Intelligence and Animal Life ............................ 258 vii 3.6. Conclusion: Philosophia and the Metaphysics of Writing ................................. 272 Chapter Four: Senecan Self-Consolation in the Ad Polybium ........................................ 280 4.1. Introduction: Truth-telling and the Private Sphere in Seneca’s Consolations ... 280 4.2. Truth-Telling and the Private Sphere in Seneca’s Consolation to Marcia ......... 286 4.3. Sovereign Power and Bare Life in the Consolation Ad Polybium ..................... 298 4.3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 298 4.3.2. The Valences of Truth-Telling: Sincerity, Irony, Doublespeak, and Overidentification ................................................................................................... 304 4.3.3. Historical and Political Context of Seneca’s Composition, I: Julians and Claudians ................................................................................................................. 315 4.3.4. Historical and Political Context of Seneca’s Composition, II: Claudius’ Trial System ..................................................................................................................... 320 4.3.5. Seneca’s Compromised Voice and the Questionable Ground of his Discourse ................................................................................................................................. 330 4.3.6. The Function of Fortuna ............................................................................... 336 4.3.7. “Weaker Remedies:” Ad Polybium 1-6 ......................................................... 344 4.3.8. The Universality of the Fates’ Law .............................................................. 347 4.3.9. The Lamentations as Interruptions of the Consolatory Therapy .................. 351 4.3.10. The Weaker Remedies Proper,