[107] We must realize also that we are invested by Nature with two characters, as it were: one of these is universal, arising from the fact of our being all alike endowed with reason and with that superiority which lifts us above the brute. Full search Books 1 and 3. [31] But occasions often arise, when those duties which seem most becoming to the just man and to the “good man,” as we call him, undergo a change and take on a contrary aspect. But the most marked difference between man and beast is this: the beast, just as far as it is moved by the senses and with very little perception of past or future, adapts itself to that alone which is present at the moment; while man—because he is endowed with reason, by which he comprehends the chain of consequences, perceives the causes of things, understands the relation of cause to effect and of effect to cause, draws analogies, and connects and associates the present and the future—easily surveys the course of his whole life and makes the necessary preparations for its conduct. In this pursuit, which is both natural and morally right, two errors are to be avoided: first, we must not treat the unknown as known and too readily accept it; and he who wishes to avoid this error (as all should do) will devote both time and attention to the weighing of evidence. Further than this, who fails to see that those promises are not binding which are extorted by intimidation or which we make when misled by false pretences? [158] And it is not true, as certain people maintain, that the bonds of union in human society were instituted in order to provide for the needs of daily life; for, they say, without the aid of others we could not secure for ourselves or supply to others the things that Nature requires; but if all that is essential to our wants and comfort were supplied by some magic wand, as in the stories, then every man of first-rate ability could drop all other responsibility and devote himself exclusively to learning and study. [98] The poets will observe, therefore, amid a great variety of characters, what is suitable and proper for all—even for the bad. But of all the bonds of fellowship, there is none more noble, none more powerful than when good men of congenial character are joined in intimate friendship; for really, if we discover in another that moral goodness on which I dwell so much, it attracts us and makes us friends to the one in whose character it seems to dwell. –, Although these four are connected and interwoven, still it is in each one considered singly that certain definite kinds of moral duties have their origin: in that category, for instance, which was designated first in our division and in which we place wisdom and prudence, belong the search after truth and its discovery; and this is the peculiar province of that virtue. Click anywhere in the 1913. The first office of justice is to keep one man from doing harm to another, unless provoked by wrong; and the next is to lead men to use common possessions for the common interests, private property for their own. But orderly behaviour and consistency of demeanor and self-control and the like have their sphere in that department of things in which a certain amount of physical exertion, and not mental activity merely, is required. But of all forms of injustice, none is more flagrant than that of the hypocrite who, at the very moment when he is most false, makes it his business to appear virtuous. But when the young man out of love for the service stayed on in the field, his father wrote to Popilius to say that if he let him stay in the army, he should swear him into service with a new oath of allegiance, for in view of the voidance of his former oath he could not legally fight the foe. Background. which, I am told, the malicious and envious are wont to rail: “Yield, ye arms, to the toga; to civic praises, a ye laurels.” b Not to mention other instances, did not arms yield to the toga, when I was at the helm of state? [7] Since, therefore, the whole discussion is to be on the subject of duty, I should like at the outset to define what duty is, as, to my surprise, Panaetius has failed to do. For there is a limit to retribution and to punishment; or rather, I am inclined to think, it is sufficient that the aggressor should be brought to repent of his wrong-doing, in order that he may not repeat the offence and that others may be deterred from doing wrong. [50] The interests of society, however, and its common bonds will be best conserved, if kindness be shown to each individual in proportion to the closeness of his relationship. When Popilius decided to disband one of his legions, he discharged also young Cato, who was serving in that same legion. In the third and final book of On Duties Cicero argues that following nature is to embrace the path of virtue and right as the truly expedient. Current location in this text. ... 11. changes, storing new additions in a versioning system. In my opinion, at least, we should always strive to secure a peace that shall not admit of guile. Hide browse bar For example, if you have made an appointment with anyone to appear as his advocate in court, and if in the meantime your son should fall dangerously ill, it would be no breach of your moral duty to fail in what you agreed to do; nay, rather, he to whom your promise was given would have a false conception of duty if he should complain that he had been deserted in time of need. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, ... {11} IV. [32] For a given promise or agreement may turn out in such a way that its performance will prove detrimental either to the one to whom the promise has been made or to the one who has made it. Your current position in the text is marked in blue. This work is licensed under a He studied in Athens and on the island of Rhodes where he probably got his stoic inspiration from. So extremely scrupulous was the observance of the laws in regard to the conduct of war. To this passion for discovering truth there is added a hungering, as it were, for independence, so that a mind well-moulded by Nature is unwilling to be subject to anybody save one who gives rules of conduct or is a teacher of truth or who, for the general good, rules according to justice and law. [33] Again, there are certain duties that we owe even to those who have wronged us. Nam et medium quoddam officium dicitur et perfectum. [In Book 2 Cicero has explored the appeal, from the justifiable to the excessive, of the useful or expedient. Cicero, De Officiis 1.14. [22] But since, as Plato has admirably expressed it, we are not born for ourselves alone, but our country claims a share of our being, and our friends a share; and since, as the Stoics hold, everything that the earth produces is created for man’s use; and as men, too, are born for the sake of men, that they may be able mutually to help one another; in this direction we ought to follow Nature as our guide, to contribute to the general good by an interchange of acts of kindness, by giving and receiving, and thus by our skill, our industry, and our talents to cement human society more closely together, man to man. Enter a Perseus citation to go to another section or work. On Duties (De Officiis), Books 1 and 3 (Excerpts) By Cicero [Marcus Tullius Cicero. The whole truth, however, is in this verse, against Cicero’s great victory. Cicero, De officiis, Cic.off.1,11-14 Grundzüge einer Anthropologie: Die Naturausstattung des Mensche (lateinisch - deutsch) line to jump to another position: Book III: the conflict between the right and the expedient, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License, http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi055.perseus-eng1:1.11, http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi055.perseus-eng1, http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi055, http://data.perseus.org/catalog/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi055.perseus-eng1. We are not to say, therefore, that sickness or want or any evil of that sort is more repugnant to Nature than to covet and to appropriate what is one’s neighbour’s; but we do maintain that disregard of the common interests is repugnant to Nature; for it is unjust. For generosity is of two kinds: doing a kindness and requiting one. And so, when we have leisure from the demands of business cares, we are eager to see, to hear, to learn something new, and we esteem a desire to know the secrets or wonders of creation as indispensable to a happy life. Cicero, De Officiis; C. Atzert, ed., Teubner fasc. However, Cicero’s early life was not one that was sheltered behind books and learning, and at the age of 17 he served in the Social war under Pompey the Great’s father. I shall, therefore, at this time and in this investigation follow chiefly the Stoics, not as a translator, but, as is my custom, I shall at my own option and discretion draw from those sources in such measure and in such manner as shall suit my purpose. It is the function of justice not to do wrong to one’s fellow-men; of considerateness, not to wound their feelings; and in this the essence of propriety is best seen. 2. ff. Hunter College, CUNY John R.Wallach POLSC 201 Fall, 2020 READING QUESTIONS: CICERO, On Duties (De Officiis) Cicero writes out of the Stoic tradition of philosophizing, which originated in ancient Greece but became significantly more prominent in Rome. Although philosophy offers many problems, both important and useful, that have been fully and carefully discussed by philosophers, those teachings which have been handed down on the subject of moral duties seem to have the widest practical application. Why, wild creatures often fall into snares undriven and unpursued. [68] Now the law disposes of sharp practices in one way, philosophers in another: the law deals with them as far as it can lay its strong arm upon them; philosophers, as far as they can be apprehended by reason and conscience. Marcus Tullius Cicero. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. DE OFFICIIS. [102] The appetites, moreover, must be made to obey the reins of reason and neither allowed to run ahead of it nor from listlessness or indolence to lag behind; but people should enjoy calm of soul and be free from every sort of passion. [37] There is extant, too, a letter of the elder Marcus Cato to his son Marcus, in which he writes that he has heard that the youth has been discharged by the consul, when he was serving in Macedonia in the war with Perseus. ("Agamemnon", "Hom. Cambridge. on Amazon.com. For otherwise we cannot maintain such progress as we have made in the direction of virtue. Again, there are certain duties that we owe even to those who have wronged us. Among all men, he emphasizes the special claim of attending to real need when deciding how to bestow favors and seeks to distinguish and even rank the obligations humans have to the various communities to which they belong.]. [This selection from Book I picks up at a later point where Cicero is found emphasizing again the need for overcoming excessive attachment to one’s self in order to understand well what is right, and here he presents the basic rule of not doing harm and serving always the common good.]. Cicero, de officiis 1,34-36 section 1 section 2 section 3 section 4 section 5 section 6 section 7 section 8 section 9 section 10 section 11 section 12 section 13 section 14 section 15 section 16 section 17 section 18 section 19 section 20 section 21 section 22 section 23 section 24 section 25 section 26 ... M. Tullius Cicero. Perseus provides credit for all accepted : Harvard University Press. For no phase of life, whether public or private, whether in business or in the home, whether one is working on what concerns oneself alone or dealing with another, can be without its moral duty; on the discharge of such duties depends all that is morally right, and on their neglect all that is morally wrong in life. Liber primus Rainer Lohmann prosa 1 De Officiis Einführung Liber tertius Einleitung Ethik als Thema Definition und Einteilung der Pflichten 1. [69] Owing to the low ebb of public sentiment, such a method of procedure, I find, is neither by custom accounted morally wrong nor forbidden either by statute or by civil law; nevertheless it is forbidden by the moral law [law of nature (naturae lege)]. De officiis [., Cicero, Gardiner, George B.] Bracketed words or phrases usually represent my effort to clarify a term or reference. [51] This, then, is the most comprehensive bond that unites together men as men and all to all; and under it the common right to all things that Nature has produced for the common use of man is to be maintained, with the understanding that, while everything assigned as private property by the statutes and by civil law shall be so held as prescribed by those same laws, everything else shall be regarded in the light indicated by the Greek proverb: “Amongst friends all things in common.” Furthermore, we find the common property of all men in things of the sort defined by Ennius; and, though restricted by him to one instance, the principle may be applied very generally: Who kindly sets a wand’rer on his way Does e’en as if he lit another’s lamp by his: No less shines his, when he his friend’s hath lit. [30] For, if merely, for one’s own benefit one were to take something away from a man, though he were a perfectly worthless fellow, it would be an act of meanness and contrary to Nature’s law. De Officiis (On Duties or On Obligations) is a 44 BC treatise by Marcus Tullius Cicero divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds his conception of the best … And therefore we may follow the Stoics, who diligently investigate the etymology of words; and we may accept their statement that “good faith” is so called because what is promised is “made good,” although some may find this derivation rather farfetched. De Officiis. The Text and Translation in Volume 1 are supplemented by a detailed Commentary (Vol. Book 1, understandably emphasizing the importance of philosophy bearing fruit in form of moral guidance, explains the discerning of the way or law of nature in the inclinations to the virtues in human beings. For instance, our forefathers actually admitted to full rights of citizenship the Tusculans, Acquians, Volscians, Sabines, and Hernicians, but they razed Carthage and Numantia to the ground. with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Shall we not imitate the fruitful fields, which return more than they receive? [Shortly after in the complete text, the selection below follows, and here Cicero is found discussing the application of the standard of right to retribution, punishment and warfare.]. Cicero wrote that in 44 BCE in his last work in his last year of life: De Officiis, or in English: On Obligations. : Vale igitur mi Cicero tibique persuade esse te mihi quidem carissimum sed multo cariorem si talibus monimentis [sic] preceptisque letabere. ob on account of, for the sake of, for; instead of; right before wegen, im Interesse der, für, statt, unmittelbar vor en raison, pour le bien de, pour, au lieu de; juste avant a causa di, per il bene di, per, invece, a destra prima di en razón de que, en aras de, por, en lugar de, justo antes de But we possess no substantial, life-like image of true Law and genuine Justice; a mere outline sketch is all that we enjoy. [In a series of passages below from the remainder of Book I Cicero eloquently restates some his basic principles and perspectives on a dutiful life. New here is his exploration in §107 of the difference between the universal nature and particular nature with which each person is endowed.]. –Walter Nicgorski. In his army Cato’s son was serving on his first campaign. For many people often do favours impulsively for everybody without discrimination, prompted by a morbid sort of benevolence or by a sudden impulse of the heart, shifting the wind. Translated by Walter Miller. [58] Now, if a contrast and comparison were to be made to find out where most of our moral obligation is due, country would come first, and parents; for their services have laid us under the heaviest obligation; next come children and the whole family, who look to us alone for support and can have no other protection; finally, our kinsmen, with whom we live on good terms and with whom, for the most part, our lot is one. I only wish that we were true even to this; for, even as it is, it is drawn from the excellent models which Nature and Truth afford. For there is a bond of fellowship—although I have often made this statement, I must still repeat it again and again—which has the very widest application, uniting all men together and each to each. [52] On this principle we have the following maxims: “Deny no one the water that flows by;” “Let anyone who will take fire from our fire;” “Honest counsel give to one who is in doubt;” for such acts are useful to the recipient and cause the giver no loss. Cambridge, Mass. De Officiis. And among our countrymen justice has been observed so conscientiously in this direction, that those who have given promise of protection to states or nations subdued in war become, after the custom of our forefathers, the patrons of those states. line to jump to another position: 1 The essential differences between man and the lower animals. [56] And while every virtue attracts us and makes us love those who seem to possess it, still justice and generosity do so most of all. But, for the most part, people are led to wrong-doing in order to secure some personal end; in this vice, avarice is generally the controlling motive. Bold numbers in brackets indicate the standard divisions in Cicero’s texts in which are found in whole or part the sections reproduced here. . Not at all. 1913. This is Cicero’s major ethical writing and his final philosophical work, done in the last year and a half of his life. De Officiis was written in October–November 44 BC, in under four weeks. Parents are dear; dear are children, relatives, friends; one native land embraces all our loves; and who that is true would hesitate to give his life for her, if by his death he could render her a service? Panaetius thinks, a threefold one: first, people question whether the contemplated act is morally right or morally wrong; and in such deliberation their minds are often led to widely divergent conclusions. [11] 4. In the 2000 edition (Oxford University Press, reprinted 2008, and recently added to my library), translator P.G. De officiis (On Moral Duties), 1.11.33-1.13.41, 3.29.107. [57] But when with a rational spirit you have surveyed the whole field, there is no social relation among them all more close, none more dear than that which links each one of us with our country. To proceed beyond the universal bond of our common humanity, there is the closer one of belonging to the same people, tribe, and tongue, by which men are very closely bound together; it is a still closer relation to be citizens of the same city-state; for fellow-citizens have much in common—forum, temples colonnades, streets, statutes, laws, courts, rights of suffrage, to say nothing of social and friendly circles and diverse business relations with many. With An English Translation. Login or signup free. He insists that the human being can and ought progress in his ability to recognize, even in perplexing cases, the identity of the right and the expedient. [, But a still closer social union exists between kindred. [15] You see here, Marcus, my son, the very form and as it were the face of Moral Goodness; “and if,” as Plato says, “it could be seen with the physical eye, it would awaken a marvellous love of wisdom.” But all that is morally right rises from some one of four sources: it is concerned either (1) with the full perception and intelligent development of the true; or (2) with the conservation of organized society, with rendering to every man his due, and with the faithful discharge of obligations assumed; or (3) with the greatness and strength of a noble and invincible spirit; or (4) with the orderliness and moderation of everything that is said and done, wherein consist temperance and self-control. From this all morality and propriety are derived, and upon it depends the rational method of ascertaining our duty. De Officiis. Therefore, inasmuch as in each case some of those things which by nature had been common property became the property of individuals, each one should retain possession of that which has fallen to his lot; and if anyone appropriates to himself anything beyond that, he will be violating the laws of human society. 1. de quibus est nobis his libris explicandum. . 83v-84r [Title:] Meditationes ad Ipsum. For since there are two ways of settling a dispute: first, by discussion; second; by physical force; and since the former is characteristic of man, the latter of the brute, we must resort to force only in case we may not avail ourselves of discussion. Cicero, De Officiis, iii. But in deciding this we must above all give due weight to the spirit, the devotion, the affection that prompted the favour. Besides, the working of the mind, which is never at rest, can keep us busy in the pursuit of knowledge even without conscious effort on our part. Part of a collection of Cicero’s writings which includes On Old Age, On Friendship, Officius, and Scipio’s Dream. Cicero was sent to Rome to study law under the Scaevolas, who were the equivalent Ciceros of their day, and he also studied philosophy under Philo, who had been head of the Academy at Athens and also the stoic Diodotus. And not only minds but bodies as well are disordered by such appetites. 4, Diet of Metz (1356/57) (1,074 words) [view diff] case mismatch in snippet view article imperial insignia) 27 Function of the electors at festive diets (Latin De officiis principum electorum in solempnibus curiis imperatorum vel regum Romanorum) But, thus guided in his decision, the good man will always perform his duty, promoting the general interests of human society on which I am so fond of dwelling. And then they examine and consider the question whether the action contemplated is or is not conducive to comfort and happiness in life, to the command of means and wealth, to influence, and to power, by which they may be able to help themselves and their friends; this whole matter turns upon a question of expediency. For indifference to public opinion implies not merely self-sufficiency, but even total lack of principle. This being so, some people are of the opinion that it was not right to introduce this counterbalancing of right and expediency and that no practical instruction should have been given on this question at all. But as regards special duties for which positive rules are laid down, though they are affected by the doctrine of the supreme good, still the fact is not so obvious, because they seem rather to look to the regulation of everyday life; and it is these special duties that I propose to treat at length in the following books. Every treatise on duty has two parts: one, dealing with the doctrine of the supreme good; the other with the practical rules by which daily life in all its bearings may be regulated. Another strong bond of fellowship is effected by mutual interchange of kind services; and as long as these kindnesses are mutual and acceptable, those between whom they are interchanged are united by the ties of an enduring intimacy. There are also certain duties to be observed toward those who may have injured you. Popilius was general in command of a province. There is, too, a difference between justice and considerateness in one’s relations to one’s fellow-men. [54] For since the reproductive instinct is by Nature’s gift the common possession of all living creatures, the first bond of union is that between husband and wife; the next, that between parents and children; then we find one home, with everything in common. [36] As for war, humane laws touching it are drawn up in the fetial code of the Roman People under all the guarantees of religion; and from this it may be gathered that no war is just, unless it is entered upon after an official demand for satisfaction has been submitted or warning has been given and a formal declaration made. Composed in haste shortly before Cicero's death, de Officiis has exercised enormous influence over the centuries. This was Cicero's last year alive, and he was 62 years of age. The civil law is not necessarily also the universal law; but the universal law ought to be also the civil law. This bond of union is closer between those who belong to the same nation, and more intimate still between those who are citizens of the same city-state. The few passages below from Book 3 are statements found in this book especially relevant to the law of nature and its realization as a guide in human life.]. Is it not deception, then, to set snares, even if one does not mean to start the game or to drive it into them? For he who, under the influence of anger or some other passion, wrongfully assaults another seems, as it were, to be laying violent hands upon a comrade; but he who does not prevent or oppose wrong, if he can, is just as guilty of wrong as if he deserted his parents or his friends or his country. Atque etiam alia divisio est officii. For he would seek to escape from his loneliness and to find someone to share his studies; he would wish to teach, as well as to learn; to hear, as well as to speak. But since the resources of individuals are limited and the number of the needy is infinite, this spirit of universal liberality must be regulated according to that test of Ennius—“No less shines his”—in order that we may continue to have the means for being generous to our friends. Translated by Walter Miller. The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text. All rights reserved. Then follow the bonds between brothers and sisters, and next those of first and then of second cousins; and when they can no longer be sheltered under one roof, they go out into other homes, as into colonies. Every duty, therefore, that tends effectively to maintain and safeguard human society should be given the preference over that duty which arises from speculation and science alone. De Officiis. Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Such obligations are annulled in most cases by the praetor’s edict in equity, in some cases by the laws. [23] The foundation of justice, moreover, is good faith;—that is, truth and fidelity to promises and agreements. Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page [29] Now since we have set forth the two kinds of injustice and assigned the motives that lead to each, and since we have previously established the principles by which justice is constituted, we shall be in a position easily to decide what our duty on each occasion is, unless we are extremely self-centred; [30] for indeed it is not an easy matter to be really concerned with other people’s affairs; and yet in Terence’s play, we know, Chremes “thinks that nothing that concerns man is foreign to him.” Nevertheless, when things turn out for our own good or ill, we realize it more fully and feel it more deeply than when the same things happen to others and we see them only, as it were, in the far distance; and for this reason we judge their case differently from our own. For it is only when they agree with Nature’s laws that we should give our approval to the movements not only of the body, but still more of the spirit. [21] There is, however, no such thing as private ownership established by nature, but property becomes private either through long occupancy (as in the case of those who long ago settled in unoccupied territory) or through conquest (is in the case of those who took it in war) or by due process of law, bargain, or purchase, or by allotment. In the matter of physical endowment there are great differences: some, we see, excel in speed for the race, others in strength for wrestling; so in point of personal appearance, some have stateliness, others comeliness. Again, every action ought to be free from undue haste or carelessness; neither ought we to do anything for which we cannot assign a reasonable motive; for in these words we have practically a definition of duty. [11] First of all, Nature has endowed every species of living creature with the instinct of self-preservation, of avoiding what seems likely to cause injury to life or limb, and of procuring and providing everything needful for life—food, shelter, and the like. 3. [99] We should, therefore, in our dealings with people show what I may almost call reverence toward all men—not only toward the men who are the best, but toward others as well. [34] Then, too, in the case of a state in its external relations, the rights of war must be strictly observed. Thus we come to understand that what is true, simple, and genuine appeals most strongly to a man’s nature. [, In this example he effectively teaches us all to bestow even upon a stranger what it costs us nothing to give. Although these four are connected and interwoven, still it is in each one considered singly that certain definite kinds of moral duties have their origin: in that category, for instance, which was designated first in our division and in which we place wisdom and prudence, belong the search after truth and its discovery; and this is the peculiar province of that virtue.