The Consolation of Philosophy

Philosophy suggests that, for humans, sense perception comes before before the mind actively “judges [sensory experiences] of its own power.” But, for some kinds of knowing subjects, perception can happen without this kind of input from the body. Indeed, different beings are able to know in different ways: animals without “power of movement, like mussels and other shellfish,” can only know through sense-perception, while other animals have sense-perception and imagination, and only humans have reason in addition to these. “Intelligence,” in turn, “belongs only to divinity.” And, again, each higher form “transcends the others”—for instance, if reason were to conflict with the imagination and sense-perception, humans would trust reason over them. Because “divine intelligence” is the highest form of knowledge, Philosophy continues, “human reason [should] bow before” it. And this “supreme intelligence,” she hopes to show, can have foreknowledge of things that aren’t certain to occur.

Philosophy sings about the different ways that life takes shape on earth. There are animals that slither on  the ground, others that fly, and others still that walk across the earth—but all of these kinds of life “look […] downward to the ground.” In contrast, only humans can look upwards rather than downwards. They should also “raise up” their minds and “thoughts.”