Power and Persuasion in Cicero's Philosophy

Explores Cicero's thought on a range of issues including political leadership, persuasive rhetoric, and the right use of power.

Nathan Gilbert (Edited by), Margaret Graver (Edited by), Sean McConnell (Edited by)

9781009170338, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 January 2023

320 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2 cm, 0.55 kg

Extensively trained as a philosopher, Cicero was also a working politician with a keen awareness of the distance between pure intellectual endeavor and effective strategies of persuasion. This volume explores a series of interrelated problems in his works, from the use of emotion, self-correction, and even fiction in intellectual inquiry, to the motives of political agents and the morality of political arguments, to the means of justifying the use of force in international relations. It features close readings of works from all periods of Cicero's philosophical career, from the threshold of Rome's civil war to the year following the assassination of Julius Caesar. For a richer body of evidence, the volume also makes use of material from Cicero's personal letters and political speeches. Power and Persuasion in Cicero's Philosophy will be essential reading not only in Roman philosophy but also for the political and rhetorical culture of the Roman Republic.

Introduction Nathan Gilbert, Margaret Graver and Sean McConnell
Part I. Techniques and Tactics of Ciceronian Philosophy: 1. Cicero on rhetoric and dialectic Raphael Woolf
2. Cicero's Platonic dialogues James E. G. Zetzel
3. Mos dialogorum: scepticism and fiction in Cicero's Academica Georgina White
4. Nos in diem vivimus: Cicero's approach in the Tusculan Disputations Geert Roskam
5. Cicero the philosopher at work: the genesis and execution of de officiis 3 Nathan Gilbert
Part II. Political Philosophy and Ethics: 6. Luris consensu revisited Malcolm Schofield
7. The psychology of honor in Cicero's De re publica Margaret Graver
8. Cicero on the justice of war Jed W. Atkins
9. Towards a definition of sapientia: philosophy in Cicero's Pro Marcello Katherina Volk
10. Old men in Cicero's political philosophy Sean McConnell
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Social & political philosophy [HPS], Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]