Why Cicero Matters shows us how the Roman philosopher and statesman Marcus Tullius, better known as Cicero, can help realize a new political world. His impact on humanitarianism, the Enlightenment and the Founding Fathers of America is immense. Yet we give Julius Caesar all our attention. Why? What does this say about modern politics and political culture?
This book gives us Cicero as an antidote to the myth of the strong man of history. Reading Cicero's On Duties alongside two more introspective philosophical texts, On Friendship and On Old Age, we see how Cicero turned politics into a higher, intellectual form of art, believing in education, in culture and above all in the power of philosophy to instil morality. Cicero has reassuring words on the indispensable work philosophers make, and why the common good needs philosophy.
In an age when anti-intellectualism runs rampant, Why Cicero Matters introduces us to an ancient thinker who argues culture is, or ought to be, the foundation of any modern democracy, and books its building blocks.

- 192 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Why Cicero Matters
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Halftitle Page
- Title Page
- Dedication Page
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction: It’s all Shakespeare’s fault
- 1 Cicero, homo philosophicus
- 2 Politics as ethics
- 3 The people’s republic
- 4 The value of friendship
- 5 Getting old, with decorum
- 6 Rome needs philosophy
- Epilogue: Why read Cicero today
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Imprint
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Yes, you can access Why Cicero Matters by Vittorio Bufacchi in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Philosophy & Ancient & Classical Philosophy. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.