47 pages • 1 hour read
Cicero: On Duties (De Officiis)
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Symbols & Motifs
Schools of Philosophical Thought
The major schools of thought at this time were the Academic, Stoic, Epicurean, and Peripatetic. The Academic school was founded by Plato around 385 BC and practiced skepticism. The Stoics, founded by Zeno around 300 BC, held virtue to be the greatest human good. Epicureans, founded by Epicurus around 307 BC, associated goodness with pleasant physical experiences, and believed life centered around sensually-pleasing things. Finally, the Peripatetics, with whom Cicero's son studied, were founded in 335 BC by Aristotle, and existed between Stoics and Epicureans in their belief that sensual pleasure was good, but that virtue was the highest good. Cicero's own writings follow Panaetius, a Peripatetic philosopher, and tend to fall in line with their teachings.
Human Nature: Competing Schools of Thought
Three schools of thought compete in Cicero's philosophical landscape to formulate a concept of human nature. The Peripatetics believed that the universe emanated from a single, perfect being, whom humans tried to imitate. They valued the human mind above bodily pleasures, but did not deny the value of the latter. The Stoics believed in a universe ruled by a material, divine mind. They valued virtue above all, and believed that a wise person lived in accordance with human and universal nature. Epicureans proposed that the universe arose from a random collision of invisible particles moving through the void of space. They believed in individualism over the common good. In contrast to the Stoics, the Epicureans believed physical pleasure to be of highest value, and virtue to be in service of that pleasure. They did not believe that the gods had any involvement in human life.
Anecdote as Pedagogical Example
Throughout On Duties, Cicero provides innumerable examples from history, mythology, philosophy, and contemporary politics with which to demonstrate his points about moral duties. It's clear from these examples that Cicero is not only learned, but values the knowledge he's accrued through years of study. He uses anecdotes heavily in Book III, in which he attempts to reconcile the honorable and the useful. For example, he uses a conversation between the philosopher Diogenes and his student, Antipater, to demonstrate the importance of not omitting truths for one's personal gain.
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