Cicero's ‘De Officiis'

This Guide presents a multi-perspectival, scholarly collection of essays, the first devoted to one of Cicero's most influential philosophical works.

Cicero's De Officiis is perhaps his most influential philosophical work. This Critical Guide, the first collection of essays devoted to the work, explores its richness and variety and will be valuable for a range of readers in fields including philosophy, classics and political theory.Cicero's De Officiis, perhaps his most influential philosophical work, ranges over a wide variety of themes, from the role of the family in society to the question of whether our duties can conflict with one another, and from the moral significance of offence to the question of whether it is right to kill a dictator. This Critical Guide, the first collection of essays devoted to the work, is helpfully organised in thematic sections and aims to illuminate both the main individual topics of De Officiis and their interconnections, with essays by an international team of contributors that will allow readers to appreciate the work's distinctive blend of philosophical theory and social and political reality. It will be valuable for a range of readers in fields including philosophy, classics and political theory.