The Long ConversationA timeline of world philosophy

Philosopher

Cicero

106–43 BCE

Also known as Marcus Tullius Cicero, Tully

Roman statesman and orator whose dialogues brought Greek philosophy into Latin, setting rival schools' views side by side in the spirit of Academic scepticism.

Marble bust of a heavy-jowled man with short hair and a furrowed brow
Roman marble bust of Cicero, first century BCE. Capitoline Museums, Rome.Photo: José Luiz · CC BY-SA 4.0 · See the original

The foundation of justice, moreover, is good faith—that is, truth and fidelity to promises and agreements.

On Duties 1.23, translated by Walter Miller

It is never expedient to do wrong, because wrong is always immoral; and it is always expedient to be good, because goodness is always moral.

On Duties 3.64, translated by Walter Miller

Cicero was one of the leading politicians and orators of the late Roman republic. As consul in 63 BCE he suppressed Catiline’s conspiracy, but his actions led to exile in 58; he returned the next year and watched with dismay as the conflict between Caesar and Pompey became civil war and Caesar made himself dictator. Caesar’s assassination in 44 brought only a brief revival of hope, and in 43 Cicero was killed on the orders of Mark Antony.

Philosophy was a lifelong passion. His first major philosophical works were on politics, and in his last years, after the death of his daughter Tullia and during Caesar’s dictatorship, he set out to cover the whole of philosophy in Latin. Around a dozen philosophical works survive, most of them dialogues, a form he admired in Plato, whom he thought the greatest philosopher. Long valued mainly as a source for the Stoics, Epicureans and sceptics of his day, he is now read as a thinker in his own right. His approach to religion had a well-documented influence on David Hume.

Key ideas

Arguing every side
As an Academic sceptic, Cicero held that certainty is out of reach; the most we can do is judge one view more plausible than another, and stay ready to revise that judgement. His dialogues set out each school’s case, then criticise it, leaving readers to decide.
Natural law
True law is right reason about what to command and forbid, shared by gods and humans. We are born for justice, so what is right is a matter of nature, not opinion, and a state’s actual laws are to be judged against that standard.
Theory tested by life
Philosophy should change lives and improve societies. In On Ends he weighs the Epicurean, Stoic and Old Academic accounts of the highest good, asking not only whether each is coherent but whether people could actually live by it.
Philosophy for Rome
His Republic and Laws start from Rome’s real institutions rather than an ideal city, and argue that a good person should take part in public life, against the Epicurean advice to stay out of politics.
Tradition
Western
Region
Rome

Influences

Influenced by

Cicero106–43 BCE

Influenced

Influenced by

Cicero106–43 BCE

Influenced

Where these links come from
  • Cicero drew on Plato. Source: Raphael Woolf, Cicero, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Cicero drew on Aristotle. Source: Raphael Woolf, Cicero, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Desiderius Erasmus drew on Cicero. Source: Erika Rummel and Eric MacPhail, Desiderius Erasmus, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • David Hume drew on Cicero. Source: Raphael Woolf, Cicero, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Key works

Sources

  1. Raphael Woolf, Cicero, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy