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( c .480–524) Roman philosopher. Boethius's work that had the greatest influence on the history of metaphysics in the Latin world was not his famous De consolatione philosophiae , but a treatise that was referred to in the Middle Ages as De hebdomadibus . Its real title is a question submitted to Boethius by a friend: “How can substances be good in virtue of the fact that they have being when they are not substantial goods?” ( Quomodo substantiae in eo quod sint bonae sint cum non sint substantialia bona ). The most striking thing about this work is the way in which Boethius approaches the problem. He will solve this question according to the method “that is usual in mathematics”. His exposition starts therefore with eight propositions from which the remainder of the argument can be deduced. Boethius presents the model of an axiomatic metaphysics that proceeds more geometrico . The second axiom reads: “Being ( esse ) and that which is ( quod est ) are different.” For being itself does not exist, but that which actually exists is “that which is”. The precise meaning of this difference is controversial. It is usually interpreted as the distinction between a concrete thing and its substantial form, that by which a thing is ( quo est ). Boethius uses this distinction for the explanation of the ontological difference between created being and the highest being. The mark of created ... log in or subscribe to read full text