On Obligations was written by Cicero in late 44 BC after the assassination of Julius Caesar to provide principles of behaviour for aspiring politicians. It explores the apparent tensions between honourable conduct and expediency in public life, and the right and wrong ways of attaining political leadership. The principles of honourable behaviour are based on the Stoic virtues of wisdom, justice, magnanimity, and propriety; in Cicero's view the intrinsically useful is always identical with the honourable. Cicero's famous (...) treatise has played a seminal role in the formation of ethical values in western Christendom. Adopted by the fourth-century Christian humanists, it beame transmuted into the moral code of the high Middle Ages. Thereafter, in the Renaissance from the time of Petrarch, and in the Age of Enlightenment that followed, it was given central prominence in discussion of the government of states. Today, when corruption and conflict in political life are the focus of so much public attention, On Obligations is still the foremost guide to good conduct. (shrink)

In the de Officiis we have, save for the latter Philippics, the great orator's last contribution to literature. The last, sad, troubled years of his busy life could not be given to his profession; and he turned his never-resting thoughts to the second love of his student days and made Greek philosophy a possibility for Roman readers. The senate had been abolished; the courts had been closed. His occupation was gone; but Cicero could not surrender himself to idleness. In (...) those days of distraction (46-43 b.c.) he produced for publication almost as much as in all his years of active life.The liberators had been able to remove the tyrant, but they could not restore the republic. Cicero's own life was in danger from the fury of mad Antony and he left Rome about the end of March, 44 b.c. He dared not even stop permanently in any one of his various country estates, but, wretched, wandered from one of his villas to another nearly all the summer and autumn through. He would not suffer himself to become a prey to his overwhelming sorrow at the death of the republic and the final crushing of the hopes that had risen with Caesar's downfall, but worked at the highest tension on his philosophical studies. (shrink)

Cicero's philosophical works are now exciting renewed interest and more generous appreciation, in part because he provides vital evidence of the views of the Greek philosophers of the Hellenistic age, and partly because of the light he casts on the intellectual life of first-century Rome. Hellenistic philosophy has in recent years atrracted growing interest from academic philosophers in Europe and North America. The Nature of the Gods is a document of central significance in this area, for it presents a (...) detailed account of the theologies of the Epicureans and of the Stoics, together with the critical objections to these doctrines raised by the Academic school. When these Greek theories of deity are translated into the Roman context, a fascinating clash of ideologies results. (shrink)

'But I must stop now. I can no longer speak for tears - and my client has ordered that tears are not to be used in his defence.' Cicero was the greatest orator of the ancient world: he dominated the Roman courts, usually appearing for the defence. His speeches are masterpieces of persuasion: compellingly written, emotionally powerful, and somtimes hilariously funny. This book presents five of his most famous defences: of Roscius, falsely accused of murdering his father; of the (...) consul-elect Murena, accused of electoral bribery; of the poet Archias, on a citizenshiup charge; of Caelius, ex-lover of Clodia Metelli, on charges of violence; and of Milo, for mudering Cicero's hated enemy Clodius. Cicero's clients were rarely whiter-than-white; but so seductive is his oratory that the reader cannot help taking his side. In these speeches we are plunged into some of the most exciting courtroom dramas of all time. These new translations preserve Cicero's literary artistry and emotional force, and achieve new standards of accuracy. Each speech has its own introduction, and a general introduction discusses Cicero's public career and the criminal courts. The substantial explanatory notes guide the reader through the speeches, and offer new scholarship presented in a clear way. (shrink)

`My present intention is to clear myself of any suspicion of partiality by presenting the views of the generality of philosophers concerning the nature of the gods.' Cicero's philosophical works are now exciting renewed interest, in part because he provides vital evidence of the views of the Greek philosophers of the Hellenistic age, and partly because of the light he casts on the intellectual life of first century Rome. The Nature of the Gods is a text of central significance, (...) presenting a detailed account of the theologies of the Epicureans and of the Stoics, together with the critical objections to these doctrines raised by the Academic school. When these Greek theories of deity are translated into the Roman context, a fascinating clash of ideologies results. This fine translation by P. G. Walsh includes a summary of the Text, and an Index and Glossary of Names. (shrink)

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC-43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, political theorist, philosopher, and Roman constitutionalist. He is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. He is generally perceived to be one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome. He introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary, distinguishing himself as a linguist, translator, and philosopher. An impressive orator and successful lawyer, he probably thought his political (...) career his most important achievement. Today, he is appreciated primarily for his humanism and philosophical and political writings. Although a great master of Latin rhetoric and composition, Cicero was not Roman in the traditional sense, and was quite self-conscious of this for his entire life. He was declared a "righteous pagan" by the early Catholic Church, and therefore many of his works were deemed worthy of preservation. Saint Augustine and others quoted liberally from his works On the Republic and On the Laws, and it is due to this that we are able to recreate much of the work from the surviving fragments. (shrink)

Based on the reflections of Hannah Arendt and Zygmunt Bauman, this paper argues that the social system is confined to a consumer economy order, which incorporates the public sphere, giving rise to a political agenda and to an economic cooperation as a support to the enlargement of consumerism. Thus, despite the diversity of phenomena involved in a consumption order - a key issue as identification of our time - we stress that the true causes of the problem are rooted in (...) the profound transformation of public space. Henceforth, the modern society is operated peculiarly in such a way, promoting its open extension, as well as the feature of our times. (shrink)

The third and fourth books of Cicero's Tusculan Disputations deal with the nature and management of human emotion: first grief, then the emotions in general. In lively and accessible style, Cicero presents the insights of Greek philosophers on the subject, reporting the views of Epicureans and Peripatetics and giving a detailed account of the Stoic position, which he himself favors for its close reasoning and moral earnestness. Both the specialist and the general reader will be fascinated by the (...) Stoics' analysis of the causes of grief, their classification of emotions by genus and species, their lists of oddly named character flaws, and by the philosophical debate that develops over the utility of anger in politics and war. Margaret Graver's elegant and idiomatic translation makes Cicero's work accessible not just to classicists but to anyone interested in ancient philosophy and psychotherapy or in the philosophy of emotion. The accompanying commentary explains the philosophical concepts discussed in the text and supplies many helpful parallels from Greek sources. (shrink)

In this paper two Descartes' letters on Machiavelli are examined Firstly, following the philosopher's own suggestions in the letters, Descartes' and Machiavelli's thoughts are contrasted, from which a distinction between Morals and Politics arises. Next, the Cartesian Morals is explained in order to point out the roots of this distinction.Neste artigo, duas cartas de Descartes sobre Maquiavel são analisadas. Primeiro, é apresentado, com base no que o próprio filósofo sugere nas cartas, um contraste entre os dois pensadores, do qual emerge (...) uma distinção entre moral e política em Descartes. Uma leitura da moral cartesiana é feita, em seguida, a fim de localizar as raízes desta distinção. (shrink)

Este texto enfoca as percepções de Hume sobre os eventos políticos e político-econômicos de seu tempo. Ancorado na análise de J. G. A. Pocock, o artigo explora os modos pelos quais o pensamento político humeano pode ter sido influenciado pelo assim chamado “republicanismo britânico do século XVIII”, dado o contexto de difuso mal-estar com uma intrusão sem precedentes do poder econômico sobre a política. A despeito das muitas contribuições que a história social e a história do pensamento político já fizeram (...) sobre esse tema e o respectivo período, a interpretação da perspectiva de Hume ainda deixa alguma perplexidade, à qual o artigo busca se endereçar. (shrink)

Partindo de uma visada crítica das chamadas “teorias políticonormativas”, este artigo rediscute a questão das relações entre política e moralidade sob regimes democráticos e explora a hipótese de que o esforço mesmo de realização de seus valores fundamentais, ao produzir efeitos não intencionados – um “excedente de sentido” – induz esses regimes a um movimento de fuga da moralidade. Movimento contraditório, apto a produzir um mal-estar difuso com a própria democracia. Contudo, o artigo explora a hipótese complementar de que é (...) exatamente por meio dessa contradição que emergem as possibilidades de um campo próprio da ação política. Palavras-chave: Moralidade. Excedente de sentido. Política democrática. (shrink)

O texto apresenta e discute o tema da interdisciplinaridade com foco especial sobre as ciências humanas a partir de dois movimentos articulados. Na primeira parte dedicamo-nos à elaboração do problema da fragmentação cultural por alusão à “ambiência moderna” como modo historicamente determinado de relação com a cultura e o saber, particularmente motivado pelo que Thomas Kuhn chama de “ciência normal”. Na segunda parte, e à luz de tais considerações históricas e epistemológicas da subjetivação moderna, importa apontar os desafios implicados no (...) projeto de uma formação interdisciplinar e ao mesmo tempo sinalizar para alguma estratégia de enfrentamento do problema da fragmentação cultural – encarado na condição de fenômeno histórico profundamente ancorado. A ampla fragmentação cultural, que as estratégias múltiplas de abordagem “interdisciplinar” pretendem combater no cenário da formação escolar, é especialmente experimentada como compartimentalização disciplinar do currículo em geral e das ciências humanas aqui miradas. Neste contexto, sustentamos que o componente curricular de filosofia, mas também o espírito filosófico pedagogicamente dilatado compõem respectivamente formação e estratégia epistemológica promissoras para o enfrentamento da fragmentação cultural no registro da interdisciplinaridade. (shrink)

Servindo-nos do referencial foucaultiano examinamos aqui o pressuposto básico do ordenamento político moderno e contemporâneo, a saber, a concepção decisiva de que os homens são governáveis. No percurso genealógico aberto por Michel Foucault examinamos a reelaboração política do que fora originalmente o poder espiritual judaico-cristão de governo das almas. Para Foucault, o moderno governo político dos homens está situado no cruzamento de dois conjuntos de poderes prefigurados no cristianismo primitivo: a) a arte pastoral de conduzir condutas deslocada da destinação escatológica (...) das almas à gestão calculada da vida biológica e b) a dupla produção do conhecimento necessário ao bom governo; a produção utilitária da verdade que serve à própria arte pastoral governo e a manifestação pura ou aletúrgica da verdade a propósito dos governáveis. (shrink)

The sociological analysis about some of the most important implications of the recent flexible capitalist system in any way wrong target when binding the general problem of systemic instability to the lack of living conditions, social risks and the promotion of a short-term mentality. After all, these phenomena are witnessed within the particular job, and the policy area in general. Next to the science and technology the economy is one of the main factors that modern institutionalize risk in the social (...) scale. For our approach, developed with facilities in the thoughts of Ulrich Beck, Zygmunt Bauman and Richard Sennett, what matters is that in addition to business opportunities economic risks define the newest tasks of the political sphere socially displaced by the divorce proceedings with the power. (shrink)

O pensamento político de Hannah Arendt é marcado por uma rigorosa distinção entre as esferas privada e pública das relações. Não obstante, Arendt sustenta uma feição não privativa da vida privada especialmente ligada ao sentido político da propriedade. Em seu diagnóstico crítico acerca da modernidade, presente em A condição humana, ela sustenta que a dissolução desse vínculo fundamental, a compreensão moderna da política como uma sociedade de proprietários (liberalismo) e a conversão da riqueza em preocupação coletiva compõem o quadro de (...) uma “humanidade socializada”, isto é, de sociedades enredadas à vida em sua dimensão elementar ou biológica em detrimento da mundanidade e da política. (shrink)

Apesar das notáveis mudanças operadas sobre o mundo do trabalho, a mais radical das transformações já registradas no capitalismo passa antes de tudo pela ênfase inusitada sobre a capacidade que os rendimentos desta atividade asseguram: a capacidade de consumo. Seguindo as reflexões de Richard Sennett e Zygmund Bauman, registramos nos termos de uma “revolução copernicana do capitalismo” a virada extraordinária que, no interior deste sistema econômico moderno, substitui o imperativo da satisfação adiada e as realizações a longo prazo, pelo princípio (...) consumista da satisfação imediata e renovada, assim como a frugalidade pela prodigalidade, o ascetismo pelo gasto dispendioso, as práticas compulsórias de poupança e postergação pelo desejo incontido de felicidade aqui e agora perseguido via consumo. Com o presente texto propomos portanto uma análise da inflexão de valores que marca o recente capitalismo de economia flexível e de práticas consumistas, no confronto com a antiga “ética da procrastinação” de que fala Weber. (shrink)

A presença dos acontecimentos enquanto fenômeno, e seu contraponto, o hábito, ecoam numa inter-relação contínua ao longo de todo o enredo do romance A Peste de Albert Camus. O presente artigo consiste na investigação do conceito de acontecimento e suas relações com a noção mediadora de linguagem - do mesmo modo que a ideia de resistência - à luz de uma leitura das reflexões de Gilles Deleuze, Slavoj Zizek e John Caputo acerca desse tema. Para tanto, estarão expostas correlações possíveis (...) entre construção ficcional e filosofia na análise desta obra que é considerada uma das mais simbólicas do século XX. (shrink)

Resenha do livro de: CORBIN, H. La paradoja del monoteismo. Trad. Maria Tabuyo y Agustin Lopez. Madrid: Losada, 2003.289 paginas.

Seguindo uma célebre afirmação heideggeriana, poderíamos dizer que a história da filosofia ocidental se constitui como uma onto-teo-logia. Essa assertiva, que em seu contexto crítico possui um sentido teórico-metodológico delimitado para os que buscam compreender a questão norteadora da filosofia grega e, posteriormente cristã, ou seja, a do fundamento do real ou do ser, não se sustenta quando aplicada à tradição apofática dionisiana. Marcado pelo diálogo com o neoplatonismo, o Corpus areopagyticum, por sua radical característica apofática, não somente coloca em (...) suspensão uma certa linearidade histórico-filosófica herdeira do pensamento de Platão, mas instaura um modo de tratamento da linguagem humana para com o divino que permanece em vigor até os dias atuais. Esse artigo tem como finalidade pensar, à luz do diálogo com o pensamento neoplatônico, a noção de Deus como “nada de tudo o que é” e suas consequências para a teologia negativa dionisiana. (shrink)

Throughout the history of Christian spirituality, it has been held that it is impossible to adequately name God. The Neoplatonic readings of Plato's Parmenides, particularly by Plotinus and Proclus, decisively influenced the course of Western philosophy and theology. From a comparison of the notion of God in Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, Epistle III, and in Martin Heidegger's text "Der letzte Gott," I show that there is a common thread, based in the Pauline idea of kenösis.

Throughout the history of Christian spirituality, it has been held that it is impossible to adequately name God. The Neoplatonic readings of Plato's Parmenides, particularly by Plotinus and Proclus, decisively influenced the course of Western philosophy and theology. From a comparison of the notion of God in Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, Epistle III, and in Martin Heidegger's text "Der letzte Gott," I show that there is a common thread, based in the Pauline idea of kenösis.

If we would have to differentiate Proclean thought in relation to Plotinian thought, perhaps the shortest way would be to understand the hyerarchic structure used by them to define the procession and the conversion from the One to the multiple. Although the ground for both thinkers is Plato’s philosophy, the concern to sistematize in an “organic” way all the levels of participation in the divine hennads leads Proclus to postulate a refined vertical system in which every reality is thought as (...) a monad and, as such, one different from the others. The aim of this work consists in understanding the Proclean structure and its relation with thought, understood as a transfiguration in which reality, more than a manifestation of unity, is an expression of the continuous play between the One and the multiple. (shrink)

Resenha do livro de: VATTIMO, G. Dopo la cristianita: per un cristanesimo non religioso. Milano: Garzanti, 2002.

O princípio da cognoscibilidade, formulado sem restrições, diz que todos os enunciados verdadeiros são cognoscíveis. O problema é que, com essa formulação, ele está sujeito a muitas objeções, pelo que é necessário restringir o princípio. Com tais restrições, ele diz apenas que todos os enunciados verdadeiros interessantes em certo sentido são cognoscíveis. Não obstante, este artigo mostra que alguns desses enunciados também são incognoscíveis e, desse modo, evidencia que o princípio da cognoscibilidade, mesmo na sua forma mais restrita, é falso. (...) Os enunciados em questão são enunciados que afirmam ou negam uma identidade de tipo entre qualia de diferentes indivíduos. Ao final, alguns argumentos que podem ser usados para defender o princípio da cognoscibilidade são examinados e refutados. (shrink)

Alain Angehrn, E. 10, 21 Annas, J. 21, 150 Antoni, K. 58, 67 Aristipp von Kyrene 175 Aristoteles 14, 18, 24, 113, 156f.

It deals with the problems of the Latin text (taking account of Michael Winterbottom's new edition), it delineates the work's structure and sometimes elusive train of thought, clarifies the underlying Greek and Latin concepts, and provides starting points for approaching the philosophical and historical problems that De Officiis raises.

Com a criação de um periódico universitário na UFU, senti-me desafiado a colaborar com um artigo. Veio a preocupação: qual o tema? Mas, por que esta questão? Entende-se que não basta a simples proposta de um periódico publicado e se coloque qualquer idéia no papel para colaborar na revista. Enfim, deve-se evitar "escrever para publicar", pois isto não é o suficiente. Exposta a preocupação inicial, expõe-se o interesse pelo seguinte tema: “o recurso tecnológico na pesquisa social”. O que este artigo (...) visa colocar em cima deste informe inicial? Ou melhor, o que se propõe comunicar neste artigo? Como se pretende desenvolver esta questão nos limites deste artigo? [...] Palavras-chave: Ciências sociais; Gravador sonoro; Investigação social; Produção capitalista; Recurso tecnológico; Reflexões. (shrink)

Excerpt from Philosophische Anmerkungen und Abhandlungen zu Cicero's Büchern von den Pflichten 3um fiewtilc bitbbtt lann w bienen, me Qicero de n. 1. Von (einen berben großem 930rgdmern in ber ä3mbfamleit. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged (...) copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Cicero's On the Commonwealth and On the Laws were his first and most substantial attempts to adapt Greek theories of political life to the circumstances of the Roman Republic. They represent Cicero's understanding of government and remain his most important works of political philosophy. On the Commonwealth survives only in part, and On the Laws was never completed. The new edition of this volume has been revised throughout to take account of recent scholarship, and features a new introduction, (...) a new bibliography, a chronological table and a biographical index. James E. G. Zetzel offers a scholarly reconstruction of the fragments of On the Commonwealth and a masterly translation of both dialogues. The texts are further supported by notes and synopsis, designed to assist students in politics, philosophy, ancient history, law and classics. (shrink)

A significant two-fold development in recent classical scholarship has been a revival of interest in, and respect for, post-Aristotelian Greek philosophy and Cicero's contribution to our knowledge of it. Of Cicero's major works in this field the Tusculan disputations is perhaps the most approachable.

Excerpt from De Finibus Bonorum Et Malorum: Libri Quinque About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We (...) do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

This is the first new critical edition of this text since 1908, and the first to appear in the Oxford Classical Texts series. The edition is informed by a comprehensive analysis of the entire tradition of Lucullus and Academicus Primus, and by a thorough rethinking of the text documented in the accompanying commentary volume. Lucullus and Academicus Primus are a key body of evidence for the development of Academic scepticism, one of the two varieties of scepticism in antiquity. The texts (...) also shed light on the re-emergence of dogmatic Platonic philosophy in the first century BC. (shrink)