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Cicero's Presentation of Stoic Ethics in De Finibus Book “TOTAS PAGINAS COMMOVERE?” CICERO’S PRESENTATION OF STOIC ETHICS IN DE FINIBUS BOOK III By Ákos Brunner Submitted to Central European University Department of Philosophy In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy Supervisors: Professor Gábor Betegh Professor Brad Inwood (external) CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2010 CEU eTD Collection I hereby declare that this dissertation contains no materials accepted for any other degrees in any other institution or materials previously written and/or published by another person, unless otherwise noted. Budapest, 04.12.2010 …………………………………………………… Ákos Brunner CEU eTD Collection CEU eTD Collection ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Most of all I would like to thank my supervisor Gábor Betegh, without whose invaluable guidance, constant dedicated support and, at times, patience this work would never have been written. I am also deeply thankful to Brad Inwood for his kind encouragement and illuminating discussions on many subjects. It was during my unforgettable period of research in Toronto under his inspiring supervision that the basic ideas of my dissertation were conceived. Many thanks also to István Bodnár for helping me in many ways over the years. I would like to acknowledge the debt I owe to all my teachers and colleagues at the Department of Philosophy at CEU; I have greatly benefitted from the three years of study and coursework here. I also owe to the CEU – University of Toronto Exchange Program for enabling me to spend the fall term of 2005 at the University of Toronto, and to the TOPOI Excellence Cluster for granting me the opportunity to spend January and February of 2010 at Humboldt University of Berlin. I am grateful to Gábor Borbély, to whose generosity I owe the opportunity to work three years as junior researcher at the Philosophical Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and Sciences. Last but not least I would like to thank my wife Zsóka, my mother and my sister for never ceasing to believe in me. CEU eTD Collection v vi CEU eTD Collection ABSTRACT 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 CEU eTD Collection 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, as I argue, Cicero views and vii interprets the Stoic theory from an interpretive perspective that is liable to systematically distort the Stoic theory. CEU eTD Collection viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... v Abstract.......................................................................................................................................... vii Table of contents............................................................................................................................. ix Abbreviations.................................................................................................................................. xi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Part I Cicero as a Source ....................................................................................................... 13 I.1 Cicero as an expositor of Hellenistic philosophy: the old and the new consensus............ 15 I.2 Cicero’s philosophical education................................................................................... 37 I.3 From 78 to 59 BC: Cicero’s intellectual life before his exile........................................... 48 I.3.1 Until the consulate: the upraise of Cicero’s career.................................................. 48 I.3.2 The philosophical digression in Pro Murena (60-66)................................................ 50 I.3.3 From 62 to 59: disillusionment and crisis................................................................ 58 I.4 The picture emerging: Cicero at his most “pragmatic” .................................................. 66 I.5 After the exile: Cicero the writer at work........................................................................ 84 I.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................101 Part II The account of Stoic ethics in De finibus Book III: problems and solutions..............105 II.1 The “problem” of Stoic ethics.......................................................................................107 II.2 An outline of De finibus III 16-26..................................................................................123 II.3 Problems with Cato’s account ......................................................................................137 II.3.1 Problems that have solution...................................................................................145 II.3.2 Problems that do not have solution.........................................................................156 II.4 The two main lines of interpretation: the “cosmic” versus the “heterodox”...................174 II.4.1 The “cosmic” approach.........................................................................................175 II.4.2 The “heterodox” view: Julia Annas on Stoic ethics.................................................187 II.4.2.1 Annas’ interpretation of Stoic ethics..............................................................187 II.4.2.2 Annas’ reconstruction of the core argument for the Stoic theses on virtue and happiness..................................................192 CEU eTD Collection II.4.2.3 Some remarks on Annas’ solution .................................................................200 II.4.2.4 A striking consequence of Annas’ interpretation............................................204 II.4.2.5 Objections to Annas’ conclusion ...................................................................211 2.4.2.6 Further remarks and conclusion ...................................................................218 Part III The difference that the context makes........................................................................229 III.1 Cicero’s Sceptical approach.........................................................................................231 ix III.1.1 Cicero’s sceptical stance: an outline......................................................................235 III.1.2 Cicero’s sceptical approach in De finibus..............................................................244 III.1.3 The standards for assessing dogmatic theories in De finibus .................................273 III.2 The theory that stays standing: Antiochus’ account of the summum bonum...................278 III.3 Coda: self-love.............................................................................................................305 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................321 Appendix A...................................................................................................................................327 Appendix B...................................................................................................................................339
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