Book V tackles the aspect of Chance, and Philosophy acknowledge the word according to Aristotle’s definition in Metaphysics IV.30, without giving it a place of existence outside of the order of Providence:
"Whenever anything is done for one reason, but something other than what was intended happens on account of other reasons, it is called chance. For example, when a man digs the earth with the intention of cultivating it, and finds a treasure of buried gold, this is thought to happen by chance. But it does not come from nothing since the event has its own causes whose unforeseen and unexpected occurrence seems to have produced an effect by chance. For, if the farmer had not dug the ground, and if someone had not buried his gold in the spot, the treasure would not have been found. These are the causes of the fortunate accident which is brought about by the coincidence of causes and not by the intention of the one performing the action." (Book V, Prose I, p.92)
Whether I’ve been beaten into submission or have slowly been absorbing something of the first books of Consolation, I see this clearly and have no argument for it. If we are to believe in an order to existence, then the rationale here is sound.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology