Tusculan Conversations

The treatise was apparently completed in the fall of 45 BC. e. Formally refers to the genre of philosophical dialogue, but differs from its usual form, which Cicero used in previous works, and rather is a series of five reports or lectures, where the interlocutor acts as a student who does not argue with the teacher, but only puts the thesis, and then asks questions. This form of presentation, dating back to the Carnead style, Cicero borrowed from Philo Larisei , and calls the Greek term "school" ( scholae ). ^[1] .

Thanks to the brilliant presentation style, the Tusculan Conversations have always been considered one of the “most beautiful and influential” ^[2] works of Cicero.

The treatise on Mark Brutus consists of five books, which present five imaginary conversations that took place in the Tusculan villa of Cicero.

• 1. Contempt for death ( De morte contemnenda )
  
• 2. On the transfer of pain ( De dolore tolerando )
  
• 3. Consolation in sorrow ( De animi aegritudine lenienda )
  
• 4. Other passions ( De aliis animi perturbationibus )
  
• 5. On the self-sufficiency of virtue ( De virtute, beatae vitae tutrice , lit .: on virtue, the keeper of a blissful life)

The interlocutors are indicated by the letters M and A , which usually stands for M (ark) and A (ttic) . The main topic of discussion is “eudaimonia”, that is, the possibility of achieving a blissful (happy) life, and thus the “Tusculan Conversations” are a continuation of Cicero’s previous treatise - “ On the Limits of Good and Evil ” - which addressed the issue of ultimate good ^[1] .

The first book examines the question of fear of death, and whether death should be considered evil at all. For Cicero, who had lost his beloved daughter that year, and who was very grieving for her, this was not an idle question. Since in order to answer it, it was necessary to determine what the human soul is and what its fate may be in afterlife, Cicero briefly describes the views of the main philosophical schools on the nature of the soul (§ 18-22), and selects the point of view of Plato ( the most optimistic), who considers the soul to be eternal and immortal. Since this opinion was by no means universally accepted, he also considers the views of the head of the Stoic school of Panethius , who denied Plato's ideas about the unborn and preexistence of the soul, and asserted that souls are born, like bodies, and, like everything that is born, are doomed to death ( § 79-81). Since if Plato is right, then the virtuous soul after death will be blissful, and if Panetius is right, then after death there simply will be nothing, Cicero concludes that it is not worth fearing in any of these cases.

The third option, in which the souls are doomed after death to eke out a ghostly existence in the afterlife, Cicero rejects on the grounds that if

... even the dead are unhappy, then truly we are born for everlasting misfortune. After all, then even those who have already died a hundred thousand years are unhappy, and indeed all who have ever been born into the world.

- Cicero . Tusculan talks. I, 9.

In his opinion, all this is “wild inventions of poets and artists” ^[3] , meanwhile, exactly how this point of view prevailed in ancient religion.

The second book examines the question of whether pain is the greatest evil. Cicero rejects this opinion right away, since it is obvious to him that shame, shame, or dishonor are for a worthy person far more evil than pain (§ 14). He then considers the views of philosophers on this issue, ridiculing the hypocrisy of the Epicureans and the Stoics (§15-18). The main part of the book is a collection of examples from literature and life, illustrating the stamina of heroes, sages and ordinary people - legionnaires, fist fighters and gladiators.

Gladiatorial spectacles are cruel, to many they seem inhuman, and perhaps this is how it is - at least now; but when the condemned criminals were fighting, it was the best lesson in courage against pain and death - if not for the ears, then for the eyes.

- Cicero . Tusculan talks. II, 41.

The conclusion from all this is quite simple - the philosopher must bravely endure the pain without losing face:

It is sometimes permissible for a man to moan, albeit rarely; yelling is forbidden even to a woman.

- Cicero . Tusculan talks. II, 55.

If bodily suffering becomes truly unbearable, nothing prevents the sage from ending it at any time with his life (§ 67).

The third book deals with the issue of comfort in moral suffering. Cicero sets out the point of view of the Stoics (§ 14-21), then of other schools. According to him, philosophy is a “science of healing the soul” ^[4] , but the process of this healing will be gradual and not long. In this book, Cicero relies mainly on stoic views, and is poisonous about the Epicureans, who believe (in his opinion) that one should strive for pleasure, and do not temper your spirit with thoughts about the possibility of impending disasters, since it will poison the present pleasures, and fate anyway, he will be able to inflict such a blow as a person is unable to foresee. If grief has happened, the sage should be comforted by the memories of past pleasures and hope for the future. Contrary to this view, Cicero, along with the Stoics, believes that the sage is capable of achieving a high degree of dispassion, which will make him inaccessible to grief, and constant reflection will teach him to think about the inevitability of loss.

From these words it appears that misfortunes are bitter for those who did not foresee them. Undoubtedly, everything that is considered evil is made worse by surprise. And although grief is not enhanced by this alone, nevertheless, when the pain is mitigated, much depends on the preparedness of the soul and on the general readiness - let the person always remember his human fate. And it’s truly wonderful and divine — to keep in mind and understanding the destiny of all people in advance, not to be surprised at anything that happens, and not to imagine that there is nothing, that cannot be.

- Cicero . Tusculan talks. III, 30.

The fourth book, which continues the previous topic, addresses the question of how to overcome the effects of other passions that prevent one from attaining calm calm and clarity of spirit, which is necessary for happiness.

... if grief is not dominant over the soul of a sage, then nothing else is dominant. What else could bother him? Fear? But fear is the same grief, only caused not by what is, but by what is not yet. To free oneself from grief is to free oneself from fear. Two more passions remain: violent joy and desire; if a sage is not accessible to them, his soul will always be calm.

- Cicero . Tusculan talks. IV, 8.

Cicero gives a stoic classification of passions (§ 14-21), criticizes the opinion of peripatetics that passions are necessary for the soul, and it is only necessary that they do not violate their boundaries (§ 38–46). He then quotes the definition of passion given by Zeno :

... passion is the movement of the soul, contrary to reason and directed against nature; or, in short, passion is the strongest impulse - the strongest, that is, far departing from the constant measure of nature.

- Cicero . Tusculan talks. IV, 47.

The following describes ways to overcome passions and fear. Basically, they come down to the fact that one should develop a view of passions as false representations (§ 60–81).

The fifth discourse is devoted to the fundamental question of moral philosophy for Cicero - is the perfect virtue ^[5] (achieved in the first four books) enough to find a blissful life. This book is a response to the work of Brutus “On Virtue” sent to Cicero, in which, referring to Antiochus of Ascalon , he claims that although spiritual perfection is enough for a happy life, there are some other benefits besides virtue (§ 21).

It would seem that the validity of Brutus’s statement is so obvious that he doesn’t need proof, but since the Stoics and Epicureans disagree with him, and academics resort to tricks to get away from a direct answer (§22-24), Cicero with great literary talent exposes their errors, and then, as an experienced polemicist, changes his argument to prove that they are right.

He turns to the work of Theophrastus “On a Blissful Life,” where he

... proves in detail why a person cannot be blessed under torment and torture. It was there that he allegedly said that a blissful life never set foot on a wheel (there is such an execution among the Greeks).

- Cicero . Tusculan talks. V, 24.

Following this, Cicero again ridicules Epicurus and his followers.

“Fate has no power over the sage,” what could be better said? But this is said by a person who considers pain not only the highest, but in general the only evil; what will he say if severe pain bends his whole body, just as he will verbally triumph over Fate?

- Cicero . Tusculan talks. V, 26.

After he criticizes the opinion of Zeno and his school about virtue.

Cicero then proves that only what is moral can be considered a real good (§ 43), because otherwise too many things, not only wealth and fame, but even the whiteness of teeth and a pleasant skin color should be declared good (§ 46).

It follows from this that “virtues are enough to live courageously, which means blissfully” ^[6] .

The following are vivid examples from the lives of people who have achieved wealth, the highest honors and power, but who have defiled themselves with vices and crimes: Cinnamus (in comparison with Lelius ), Maria (in comparison with Katul ) and Dionysius of Syracuse (in comparison with Archimedes ) ( § 54-66). The famous parable about the Damocles sword is also told there. Through this demonstration of moral contrasts, Cicero shows how much more the righteous life of a sage is preferable to the life of a tyrant who suffers from his own vices.

Since the idea of ​​a blissful life presupposes “that our blessed person be invulnerable, protected from all dangers, surrounded by a wall and fortifications, so that there is not even a small fear in him, but only complete fearlessness” ^[7] , and no philosophy should be provided for such conditions perhaps, in order to declare virtue sufficient to achieve bliss, the concept of the ultimate good should be changed by excluding from this concept all good external and physical (§ 76).

Under this condition, virtue becomes a self-sufficient good (since all others are excluded), and possessing it will go (theoretically, at least) to any suffering, and even death, so as not to change yourself and preserve this good. Such is the position of the Stoics, to which, according to Cicero, he has nothing to add (§80–82).

Then Cicero tries to reconcile the doctrines of the rest of the schools with this Stoic teaching, and finds that it is quite possible (§ 83–96), even with respect to Epicurus, whom Cicero himself called a little earlier “a man who only pretended to be a philosopher, appropriating this name to himself "And" reasoned almost like an animal " ^[8] .

The final part of the fifth book is devoted to the evidence that no wise man can overcome his passion and break any blows of fate (§ 96–117), but if fate nevertheless gathers strength, and in addition to poverty, general contempt , expulsion from the fatherland will bring blindness, deafness and "the most serious bodily ailments" to the sage ^[9] , then he still has a solution, recommended at the end of the second book.

In my life, the Greek proverb seems to be very appropriate: “Either drink, or leave soon.” In fact: you must either share the pleasure of drinking with the rest, or go away so as not to suffer sober in the riot of drunken people. That's how even if you are unable to bear the blows of fate, you can get away from them.

- Cicero . Tusculan talks. V, 118

• Mayorov G.G. Cicero as a philosopher // Mark Tullius Cicero. Philosophical treatises. - M .: Nauka, 1985
• Utchenko S. L. Cicero and his time. - M.: Thought, 1972

• Cicero. Tusculan Conversations (Translation by M. L. Gasparov)