An Ancient Guide to Good Politics
eBook - PDF

An Ancient Guide to Good Politics

A Literary and Ethical Reading of Cicero's De Republica

  1. 201 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

An Ancient Guide to Good Politics

A Literary and Ethical Reading of Cicero's De Republica

About this book

An Ancient Guide to Good Politics: A Literary and Ethical Reading of Cicero's De Republica illuminates Cicero's subtlety of craft and thought in his most painstakingly written dialogue. As Cicero—notable among ancient thinkers for his accomplishments as a statesman and as a philosopher—has enjoyed a resurgence of interest in recent decades, scholars are discovering in Cicero's De Republica (On the Republic) an original, insightful, and relevant teaching on republicanism, liberty, leadership, and citizenship. Through a close reading of this work, Moryam VanOpstal highlights Cicero's ingenuity in addressing age-old philosophical and political questions related to the best way of life, the relationship of justice and law, the founding of republics, the cycles of regimes, the guide of the republic, and the mixed regime. Instead of offering simplistic teachings on duty, power, and justice, Cicero presents us with reflections and puzzles that turn the question back to us, pointing us to deeper unities than the disparate appearances of things might suggest. VanOpstal shows that Cicero intended his dialogue as a provocation for us to live lives that are more fully characterized by noble thought and thoughtful deed.

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Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Contents
  3. ‌‌Acknowledgments
  4. A Note on Translation and Usage
  5. Introduction
  6. The Two Ways of Life
  7. Making Romans Reasonable
  8. Unifying the Two Ways of Life
  9. Socrates and Plato Come to Rome
  10. Political Philosophy and the Unity of the Two Ways
  11. How to Go to the Heavens
  12. Cicero’s Political Teaching
  13. On the Regime
  14. The Cycle of Regimes
  15. The Histories of the Kingship and the Republic
  16. The Guide
  17. The Mixed Regime
  18. Conclusion
  19. Bibliography
  20. Index
  21. Index of Passages in De Republica
  22. About the Author

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Yes, you can access An Ancient Guide to Good Politics by Moryam VanOpstal in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Ancient & Classical Literary Criticism. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.