De finibus bonorum et malorum ("On the ends of good and evil") is a Socratic dialogue by the Ancient Rome orator, politician, and Academic Skeptic philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero. It consists of three dialogues, over five books, in which Cicero discusses the philosophical views of Epicureanism, Stoicism, and the Platonism of Antiochus of Ascalon (whose hybrid system mingled Stoicism with an "Platonic Academy" tradition of Platonism and Aristotelianism). The treatise is structured so that each philosophical system is described in its own book and then disputed in the following book (with exception of Antiochus' view which is both explained and disputed in book five). The book was developed in the summer of the year 45 BC, and was written over the course of about one and a half months. Together with the Tusculanae Quaestiones written shortly afterwards and the Academica, De finibus bonorum et malorum is one of the most extensive philosophical works of Cicero.
Cicero dedicated the book to Marcus Junius Brutus.
Contents
First and second books (Liber Primus and Liber Secundus)
The first two books are a dialogue set at Cicero's country home in
Cumae between himself and a young
Epicureanism named Lucius Torquatus, while another young Roman named Gaius Triarius listens on. In the first book, the interlocutors present the Epicurean theory of
hedonism, which holds that pleasure in the form of
aponia (absence of pain) is regarded as the highest good. In the second book, Cicero criticizes this view, attacking the Epicurean definition of pleasure and arguing that it is inconsistent to hold pleasure as the absence of pain as the final good, since these are not one single good, but rather two distinct goods.
Third and fourth books (Liber Tertius and Liber Quartus)
In the next two books,
Stoicism ethics are discussed. In the third book, Cicero's interlocutor, Marcus Porcius Cato, presents Stoic doctrine. Here, Cicero introduces the technical terms used by the Stoics into
Latin language. The highest and only good of the Stoics is
virtue (moral good). In the fourth book, Cicero casts doubt on this
dogma, arguing a supposed natural state (the "cradle argument"), as well as issues regarding the exclusion of other goods entailed by Stoic doctrine.
Fifth book (Liber Quintus)
In the last book, Cicero presents in the form of a dialogue between himself and several friends the theory of
eudaimonia taught by Antiochus of Ascalon, which treats
Aristotelianism as a subgroup of
Platonism. This theory includes both virtue and external goods as the highest good. At the end of the book, Cicero criticized logical inconsistencies of this teaching, but more briefly and only addressing details, not broader principles. Cicero then declares that he follows this school of thought, albeit not without reservations, while respecting the valuable aspects of the teachings presented in the previous books.
Legacy
In
graphic design,
Lorem ipsum, a commonly used
placeholder text, is based on
De finibus. The placeholder text is taken from parts of the first book's discourse on
Epicureanism. Words of the original text have been altered, added, and removed in
Lorem ipsum, rendering it nonsensical as
Latin.
See also
Further reading
External links
