Cicero on decorum and the morality of rhetoric
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6260320 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Daniel Kapust (0000-0002-2547-5171, University of Georgia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 92-112 |
| Publication date | 2011-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of Political Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1474-8851 • E-ISSN: 1741-2730 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1474885110386007 |
| OpenAlex | W2004877408 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 16 |
| References cited | 13 |
This paper explores an important problem in political theory and a central issue in the study of Cicero’s thought: the tension between philosophy and rhetoric. Through an exploration of the virtue of decorum in Cicero’s rhetorical thought ( chiefly On the Ideal Orator and Orator) and in his moral philosophy ( On Duties), I argue that the virtue of decorum provides an external check on both speech and action rooted in humans’ rational nature. Given the roots of decorum in humans’ rational nature and the natural law, the desire to meet our audience’s approval does not involve Cicero in a sophistic approach to rhetoric. Rather, the desire to observe decorum provides the orator and his audience with standards of judgement that transcend mere taste and reflect underlying moral knowledge
Aesthetics · Art · Cicero · Decorum · Epistemology · Judgement · Linguistics · Literature · Morality · Political science · Politics · Rhetoric · Rhetorical question · Virtue · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Law · Philosophy · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought
Words on Fire
Conclusion of Part I
Cicero and the Creation of a Latin Philosophical Vocabulary
Cicero’s Academic Skepticism
Philosophy in Cicero’s Speeches
Philosophy in Cicero’s Letters
Cicero on the Emotions and the Soul
Cicero’s Philosophical Writing in Its Intellectual Context
The Cambridge Companion to Cicero's Philosophy
“There Must be Room for Critical Questions, but … ”
Moral theology and the historian’s conscience
Richard Rorty's Unfulfilled Humanism and the Public/Private Divide
Beyond Persuasion
Individuality and hierarchy in Cicero’s De Officiis
I tremble with my whole heart
The Rhetoric of Sincerity
Cicero as Rhetorician
Orator and the Definition of the Ideal Orator
De Oratore
The Intellectual Background of Cicero's Rhetorical Works
Politics in the Ancient World
The Philosophical Books of Cicero
The Roman World of Cicero's De Oratore
Cicero's Paradoxes and His Idea of Utility
Political Oratory and Conversation
| Citations per year | 1.6 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2026 (11) |
| Highly cited | No |