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Cicero and the evolution of philosophical dialogue

Fox, M. (2023) Cicero and the evolution of philosophical dialogue. In: Garani, M., Konstan, D. and Reydams-Schils, G. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Roman Philosophy. Series: Oxford handbooks. Oxford University Press: New York, pp. 159-172. ISBN 9780199328383 (hardback); 9780197639832 (online); 9780197639825 (epub) (doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328383.013.10)

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Abstract

The chapter examines Cicero’s contribution to the genre of philosophical dialogue. It argues that he was the first to use speakers in dialogues as representatives of different philosophical schools; he adds a particular kind of preface in order to situate philosophical conversation within a specific historical and political setting; by these means he emphasizes the practical and contingent aspects of philosophy, sometimes at the expense of the abstract; he uses historical references to highlight the need for philosophy, and to keep readers aware of the artificiality of his textual practice, and the conventional quality of the form itself. Passages from De finibus, including its account of the rape of Lucretia, are examined to show how these different aspects operate.

Item Type:	Book Sections
Keywords:	Cicero, philosophical dialogue, Aristotle, Plato, Heraclides of Pontus, doxography, skepticism, Lucretia, De finibus.
Status:	Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:	Fox, Professor Matthew
Authors:	Fox, M.
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) P Language and Literature > PA Classical philology
College/School:	College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Classics
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISBN:	9780199328383 (hardback); 9780197639832 (online); 9780197639825 (epub)
Published Online:	22 March 2023
Copyright Holders:	Copyright © Oxford University Press 2023
Publisher Policy:	Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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References

Blondell, R. (2002) The Play of Character in Plato's Dialogues. (Cambridge). Blößner, N. (2001) Cicero gegen die Philosophie. (Göttingen). Brittain, C. (2001) Philo of Larissa: Last of the Academic Sceptics. (Oxford). Dorion, L-A. (2016) “Xenophon and Greek Philosophy,” in Flower, 37-56. Dugan, J. (2005) Making a new man: Ciceronian Self-fashioning in the Rhetorical Works. (Oxford). Flower, M., ed. (2016) The Cambridge Companion to Xenophon. (Cambridge). Fox, M. (2007) Cicero’s Philosophy of History. (Oxford). Giannantoni, G. (1990) Socratis et Socraticorum Reliquiae, vol. 2. (Naples). Goldhill, S., ed. (2008) The End of Dialogue in Antiquity. (Cambridge). Hirzel, R. (1895) Der Dialog: Ein Literarhistorischer Versuch. (Leipzig). Hutchinson, D. S. and M. R. Johnson, eds. (2017) Aristotle. Protreptikos or Exhortation to Philosophy, 20 September. Available at: http://www.protrepticus.info (Accessed 9 November 2021). Janson, T. (1964) Latin Prose Prefaces. (Stockholm). Jazdzewska, K. (2014) “From Dialogos to Dialogue: The Use of the Term from Plato to the Second Century CE,” GRBS 54: 17-36. Kahn, C. H. (1996) Plato and the Socratic Dialogue: the Philosophical Use of a Literary Form. (Cambridge). Levene, D. S. (2004) “Tacitus’ Dialogus as Literary History,” TAPA 134: 157-200. Lévy, C. (1992) Cicero Academicus: Recherches sur les Académiques et sur la Philosophie Cicéronienne. (Paris). Long, A. G. (2008) “Plato’s dialogues and a common rationale for dialogue form,” in Goldhill, 45-59. Mansfeld, J. (2012) “Doxography of Ancient Philosophy,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 17 April. Available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2013/entries/doxography-ancient/ (Accessed: 9 November 2021). Reinhardt, T. (2000) “Rhetoric in the Fourth Academy,” CQ 50: 531-547. Rigolio, A. (2019) Christians in Conversation: A Guide to Late Antique Dialogues in Greek and Syriac. (Oxford). Schofield, M. (2008) “Ciceronian dialogue,” in Goldhill, 63-84. Tuplin, F., ed. (2004) Xenophon and his World. (Munich). Turkowska, D. (1965) L’Hortensius de Cicéron et le Protreptique d’Aristote. (Warsaw). van den Berg, C. S. (2014) The World of Tacitus' Dialogus de Oratoribus. (Cambridge). van der Blom, H. (2010) Cicero’s Role Models: The Political Strategy of a Newcomer. (Oxford). Waterfield, F. (2004) “Xenophon’s Socratic Mission,” in Tuplin, 79-113. Woolf, R., tr. (2001) Cicero: On Moral Ends. (Cambridge).

Deposit and Record Details

ID Code:	265413
Depositing User:	Professor Matthew Fox
Datestamp:	15 Feb 2022 16:43
Last Modified:	23 Mar 2023 09:51
Date of acceptance:	2021
Date of first online publication:	22 March 2023
Date Deposited:	15 February 2022