On the Intention of Cicero'sDe Officiis

Abstract

Recent scholarship has yielded a great deal of information on Cicero'sDe officiis; this essay, however, seeks to move beyond information about the work in favor of an interpretation of Cicero's intention in writing it. To this end, the essay analyzes the genre and intended audience ofDe officiis, the allegedly Stoic teaching contained in it, and the puzzle presented by its crucial third book. The understanding of Cicero's intention that emerges from these investigations is then briefly compared with Cicero's teaching inDe finibus. Theessay ultimately claims thatDe officiisshould be interpreted as advocating a sort of Stoicism for the unphilosophical even while urging the views of the Peripatetics on the more sophisticated.

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