"Against Justice": Cicero as a Textual Source and Interpreter of Testimonies about the "Philosophical Embassy" and the Carneades’ Skeptical Speeches

Denis A Fedorov

doi:10.25205/1995-4328-2021-15-2-844-855

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of reflection in the texts of Cicero of evidence of the propaganda and educational activities of the "philosophical embassy" in Rome under the leadership Carneades as the head of the new Academy, and the content of his philosophical speeches before the Roman audience. Particular attention is paid to the problem of Cicero's interpretation of the text of the famous speech of Carneades "Against Justice" that has not come down to us, which is reflected in the partially preserved third book of the treatise De Re Publica. According to the author of the article, Cicero, trying to popularize the methodological principle of philosophizing characteristic of skeptics, updated and modernized the theses of Carneades in relation to the realities of his era and his own pragmatic goals in the specific socio-political conditions of the crisis of the late Roman Republic.

Highlights

Известно, что развитию философии в Риме во II в до н.э. долгое время препятствовала как официальная, так и неформальная политика римского нобилитета
The article is devoted to the problem of reflection in the texts of Cicero of evidence of the propaganda and educational activities of the "philosophical embassy" in Rome under the leadership Carneades as the head of the new Academy, and the content of his philosophical speeches before the Roman audience
Particular attention is paid to the problem of Cicero's interpretation of the text of the famous speech of Carneades "Against Justice" that has not come down to us, which is reflected in the partially preserved third book of the treatise De Re Publica

Summary

Introduction

Что развитию философии в Риме во II в до н.э. долгое время препятствовала как официальная, так и неформальная политика римского нобилитета. Настоящая статья призвана пролить свет на проблему текстов Цицерона как одного из ключевых свидетельств сведений об этой «пропагандистско-просветительской» миссии философов под предводительством тогдашнего лидера Новой Академии Карнеада, а также о текстах его не дошедших до наших дней речей, в первую очередь – знаменитой и во многом провокационной речи «против справедливости», сохранившейся в памяти потомков в качестве яркого примера демонстративно-нарочитого применения сократического метода в живом философском дискурсе.

Results

Conclusion