College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 – 2016/2017

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POLI 341: ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THOUGHT

Session 8 - THE POLITICAL THEORY OF CICERO (106-43 BC)

Lecturers: Dr. E. Aggrey-Darkoh & Mr Alex K.D. Frempong

Department of Political Science Contact Information: eaggrey-darkoh@ug.edu.gh &

kaadupong2002@yahoo.co.uk

godsonug.wordpress.com/blog

Session Overview

• Welcome to session 8: The political Theory of Cicero. You need to know that the

most representative and influential philosophical school of the five centuries from about 300 B.C to

A.D. 200 was Stoicism. Cicero and Seneca existed

side by side with the stoics and that is why

you need to understand the stoics. Our concentration in this session is an account of Cicero, a avowed eclectic.

• Please relax and let us take you through CiceroC.icero 2

Session outline

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This session covers the following

topics:

•The Background of Cicero

•CiĐero’s PolitiĐal PhilosophLJ

•CiĐero’s CoŶĐept of Ideal State

TOPIC ONE

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THE BACKGROUND OF CICERO

The Birth of Cicero

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• Cicero is the best-remembered Roman lawyer. • He does not quite qualify as a Stoic philosopher, for he was too skeptical

about the gods, but as an avowed eclectic he was a reflector of Stoic ideas.

• However, his fame as a writer and orator and his representative Roman confidence in law as an object of allegiance make him worthy of attention.

• Cicero was born near Arpinum, halfway between Rome and Naples. • Cicero studied law in Rome and Philosophy in Athens. • He studied under Scaevola, the greatest jurist of his day. • He mastered the art of oratory with unusual adeptness. • He also visited other Greek centers of learning. • He owed his philosophical learning and outlook to Plato and Aristotle and

these tǁo philosophers edžerted profouŶd iŶflueŶĐe upoŶ CiĐero’s thought system.

• The two works of Cicero, The Republic and The Laws were titles he borrowed from Plato.

The Birth of CiĐero ;ĐoŶt’dͿ

• There were, however, some differences in thought between Cicero, Aristotle and Plato. • While Plato and Aristotle roamed in the imaginary world, Cicero came

down to the real world.

• Cicero contemplated of a world-city and of Roman Empire, Plato and Aristotle limited their thought within the four walls of city-state. • Although the thought of a world-city, he did not rule out self-government

and liberty. • All the constituent parts of the empire would be given the opportunity to

govern themselves so that they could develop their own culture and exercise freedom.

• Cicero was a practicing lawyer, an experienced administrator and a fighting statesman (Das 2001:69).

• Justice and common good are the summum bonum of the ideal state. • Only the philosopher king, according to Plato, could ensure these two

objectives through his sacrifice. 6

The Birth of CiĐero ;ĐoŶt’dͿ

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• Cicero, on the other hand, does not touch these philosophic principles at all. • He was a practicing lawyer, an experienced administrator

and a fighting statesman. • He had conceived of the state only in terms of law. • The state he argues is a community of laws. • This is the briefest definition given by Cicero. • He argued that the rule of law was very important. • He thought that rule of law was the basis of civilized life. • He also emphasizes love as the mighty social bond and he

regards God as the fountain of love and affection. • CiĐero’s idea aďout ChristiaŶitLJ has edžerĐised profouŶd influence upon the church fathers.

TOPIC TWO

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CICERO’S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

The Belief in natural Law

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• The ďodLJ of CiĐero’s politiĐal philosophLJ is Đoŵposed of three related eleŵeŶts. These are a belief in natural law, natural equality and the state as natural to man • To Cicero, the state is the creation of law and not a moral or ethical construction.

He also called his works Republic and Laws. • In his view, there must be a universal law of nature arising equally from the fact of

God’s proǀideŶtial goǀerŶŵeŶt of the ǁorld aŶd froŵ the ratioŶal aŶd soĐial Ŷature of human beings which makes them akin to God.

• This assertion is the beginning of the constitutions we have today. • He argued that the universal law of nature binds all men together. It is therefore

unchangeable and it is to be found in all peoples and in all nations. Law of Nature constitutes the foundation of the world-city. The law is supreme and therefore no one can violate it.

• IŶ CiĐero’s ǁords, True laǁ is right reasoŶ iŶ agreeŵeŶt ǁith Ŷature; it has uŶiǀersal applicability, unchanging, and everlasting. • It summons to duty by its commands and averts from wrong doing by its

prohibitions. The only way we can promote justice in the state is by showing obligation to the law of nature.

• He maintained that it is sin to try to alter the law.

The Belief iŶ Ŷatuƌal Law ;CoŶt’dͿ

• It is also wrong to try to repeal any part of it and it is impossible to

abolish it entirely. • If the laws do not conform to the laws of nature then citizens may

be compelled by superior force to obey them, even though they are not under any obligation to obey them.

• SuĐh laǁs as he put it Ŷo ŵore deserǀe to ďe Đalled laǁs thaŶ the rules a ďaŶd of roďďers ŵight pass iŶ their asseŵďlLJ. • If human legislation is in conformity with reason it cannot be in

inconformity with nature. • Human legislation violating law of nature must be declared

invalid. • When everyone shows obligation to the law of nature, there is to

be justice to the state. • That is violation of natural law is violation of justice. • CoŵŵeŶtiŶg oŶ CiĐero’s idea of Ŷatural laǁ, Getell has said that

his commentary on natural law has become a classic. 10

Natural Equality

• He also accepted the assertion that the world was created by somebody and that all human beings are by nature interdependent.

• He argued that men are born for justice and that right is ďased Ŷot upoŶ ŵaŶ’s opiŶioŶ ďut upoŶ Ŷature. • There is no difference between man and man in kind. They

have common features, common feelings etc. • Carlyle has said that no change in political theory is as

startling in its completeness as the change from Aristotle to the notion of natural equality by Cicero.

• He supported the claim that all human beings came from a common source and are thus equal.

• He insists that nobody has the power to enact a law which

breaches the conception of the world state. 11

Natuƌal EƋuality ;coŶt’dͿ

• He contends that all men were created by God and they are born for justice.

• If this is granted, then one can argue plausibly that discrimination is not only unjust but also immoral.

• It is the duty of every political society therefore to ensure a certain amount of dignity to every individual. • Even though he believes that all men are equal in reasoning faculties, he

contends that there must be inequalities in certain skills. • It is experience which makes the difference. • EdžperieŶĐe here iŶĐludes edžposure aŶd iŶterest. He asserts that all ŵeŶ

and all races of men possess the same kinds of experience and are equal aŶd Đapaďle of disĐriŵiŶatiŶg ďetǁeeŶ right aŶd ǁroŶg.

• Cicero also refused the time-old idea of slavery. • He contends that slaves are neither tools nor properties, they are human

beings and so they have the right to just treatment and independent personality.

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The State as natural to man

• Cicero also set forth a conception of an ideal state. He argues forcefully that the state cannot exist permanently unless it depends upon and acknowledges and gives effect to the consciousness of mutual obligation and mutual recognition of rights that bind its citizens together.

• The state sometimes resembles a moral community, i.e. a group of persons who in common possess the state and its laws.

• He called the state Respublica-meaning the affairs of the people.

• He sees the state as a commonwealth which he insists is the property of the people. 13

The State as Ŷatuƌal to ŵaŶ ;coŶt’dͿ

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• It is the assemblage of people in large numbers associated in an agreement with respect to justice and a partnership for the common good.

• He asserts that the state is necessary not because of the weakness of individuals but the existence of a certain social spirit which nature has implanted in man.

• Man is therefore not naturally solitary or unsocial creature.

• The law is good only when it satisfies the people.

• He therefore sees the state as a form of a harmonious relationship between the people.

TOPIC THREE

CICERO’S CONCEPT OF IDEAL STATE

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The Ideal State

• The purpose of Cicero in the Republic is to set forth a conception of an ideal state as Plato had done in his Republic. • He adopted the same technique as Plato. • He argues that a commonwealth is the property of the people. • A people is not any collection of human beings brought

together in any sort of way, but an assemblage of people in large numbers associated in an agreement with respect to justice and a partnership of the common good.

• The first cause of such association is not so much the weakness of the individual as a certain social spirit which nature has implanted in him.

• He argues that a man is not a solitary or unsocial creature, but born with such a nature that not even under conditions of great prosperity of every sort is willing to be isolated from his fellow men. 16

The Ideal State ;ĐoŶt’dͿ

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• Three consequences follow from this. These are: • First, since the state and its laws is the common property

of all the people, its authority arises from the collective power of the people.

• Secondly, political power when rightfully and lawfully exercised is in fact the corporate power of the people. The magistrate who exercises it does so by virtue of his office. – His warrant is the law and he is himself the creature of the law. – He argues that for as the laǁ goǀerŶs the ŵagistrate, so the

magistrate governs the people and it can truly be said that the magistrate is the speaking law and the law is the silent ŵagistrate.

• Finally, the state itself and its law are always subject to the law of God or natural law.

Characteristics of the State

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• Cicero identified the following features/characteristics of the states: • In the first place, Cicero sees the state as the affair or thing or property of the people.

– Cicero also said that people have assembled together not guided by their weakness but by social nature.

– Man is not a solitary animal. He loves and likes to habit with men. This is the inborn nature of man.

– It is the rational behavior of men which is responsible for the foundation of the state. Hence, we may call it a necessary association.

– It is useful for achieving common good. Cicero has said that there is nothing in which human excellence can more nearly approximate the divine than in the foundation of new states or in the preservation of states already founded.

– The desire to share common good is so much ardent that people have overcome all enticements to pleasure and comfort. The state is therefore a necessary association.

• Secondly, the authority of the state is collective and is derived from the people especially if it is properly exercised.

• Finally, the state and its laws are subject to God. Force can only be used to justify or for the sake of justice and right.

Politics

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• Cicero asserts the importance of politics and applauds the love for noble actions which

nature has given to men that they may

defend the common weal.

•He declared that statesmen who are able to oblige

worthy of esteem than teachers who influence but few.

all men to follow a certain course of action by authority and the use of punishment are more

Forms of government

substance is gone. 20

• Cicero identified three forms of government. These

included:

• Democracy

• He ĐoŶsiders deŵoĐraĐLJ as the haďitatioŶ of liďertLJ aŶd according to its defenders, the only form of government that can be truly called a commonwealth. Yet in his view, democracies have the difficulty in maintaining equal rights and in recognizing degree of merit and therefore often degeŶerate iŶto the the irrespoŶsiďle ŵadŶess of the ŵoď.

• Aristocracy

• Aristocracies uphold the ideal of merit, but often rich men acquire power and cling to the label aristocrat after the

Tyranny

stability and good of the political system. 21

• He also concedes the benefits of wise rule by one man but quickly adds that one man rule is almost always likely to lead to tyranny.

• In each form of government, there is the germ of corruption and instability and this leads to the fall of government. • It is only a mixed form of government (a combination of all

the three) which is the proper guarantee of stability and corruption-free society.

• He admired monarchy for the love which a king bears to his subjects, aristocracy for its wisdom in counsel, and democracy for its freedom.

• He argues that it is only a republican form of government which is the perfect example of checks and balances for the