CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2011
| Author | Brunner, Akos |
|---|---|
| Title | "TOTAS PAGINAS COMMOVERE?" Cicero's Presentation of Stoic Ethics in De finibus Book III |
| Summary | Cicero’s De finibus is certainly one of our most important texts on ancient ethical theory, even if, in contrast to e.g. Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, its merits lie not so much in its originality or contribution per se, but rather in the wealth of invaluable information it provides on the Hellenistic ethical theories whose primary sources –the hundreds of ethical treatises written by the Greek philosophers– have been almost entirely lost to us. Cicero himself does not consider himself an original thinker, or even a professional philosopher; but he regards himself as a competent and intelligent expositor, in addition to being an unmatched stylist and a public person possessing sufficient gravitas and auctoritas to effectively promulgate Greek philosophy in Rome. This self-assessment has been mostly approved in scholarship on Hellenistic philosophy over the last three or four decades; although in recent years there has been an increasing awareness of the need to pay due heed to the various cultural and personal factors that informed Cicero’s perception of the different doctrines and theories he discusses in his philosophical works. My dissertation attempts to contribute to this trend by exploring Book III of Cicero’s De finibus, as our central source for early Stoic ethics and as part of Cicero’s philosophical work. The Stoics have presented us with the most radical development on the Socratic ethical legacy in Antiquity, by championing the view that virtue is the only intrinsic “good” required to live a happy life. The fullest account of their case for this position has come down to us in Cicero’s presentation in De finibus III; but even this presentation is highly problematic in a way that has (as I see the matter)substantially contributed to the emergence of the extensive and highly fascinating recent debate over the right understanding of the “foundations” of Stoic ethics. In my dissertation I argue to the effect that this debate ought to be recast in terms of a renewed awareness of how De finibus III functions and interacts as part of De finibus as a whole –that is, renewed awareness of Cicero’s presence behind the text as the author of De finibus, a complex essay on what Cicero perceives as the central problem in moral philosophy. In consequence of such an approach, I argue, we have to redraw the limitations of Cicero’s report as a testimony; for Cicero views and interprets the Stoic theory from an interpretive perspective that is liable to systematically distort the Stoic theory. |
| Supervisor | Prof. Betegh, Gabor (CEU); Prof. Inwood, Brad (external, ToU) |
| Department | Philosophy PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2011/fphbra01.pdf |
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