The Importance of Marcus Tullius Cicero
by Bradley J. Birzer
How do I define the Natural Law? Taking my cue from Cicero–especially from On the Republic, On Duties, and On the Laws–I can state that Natural Law theory argues that there is a supreme being who holds everything together through his love or his force or his will or whatever it might be that moves him.
His will then radiates into time and creation, thus holding all things together in a brotherhood and sisterhood under his parentage. He bestows dignity upon us by shining a part of his light into us.
We, though understanding through a glass darkly, perceive only very small parts of the infinite. We perceive them by looking behind us, discerning what should be inherited and what should be discarded, and we look forward, deciding what should be promoted and what should be forsaken.
Through it all, we anchor our understanding to the transcendent, thus preventing any single one of us from proclaiming the status of law giver or law maker.
We are, instead, poetically, discoverers of Natural Law. Never creators but always discoverers. By definition, the natural law must already exist, but through our various gifts and perceptions, we see dimly and partially what has been forgotten or never been seen before. (See end note information on forum for this lecture.*)
Let me also state at the beginning of this lecture that I am not a scholar of Republican Rome, or of Imperial Rome, or a biographer of Cicero–I’m a scholar–at best–of republicanism, though. I presume everyone in the audience knows this. My interest with this talk, then, is not to look at Republican or Imperial Rome or to present a life and times of Cicero. Instead, I would like to look at Cicero as a symbol for the West and for American civilization.
This means that much of what I present will be “idylized,” that is, history as many in our past wanted it, not as it actually was. In his own dialogue, On the Laws, Cicero wisely notes that the oak tree planted by the poet’s verse will last much longer than the one resulting from the farmer’s cultivation.
The same, I believe, can be said of Cicero and his role within the West. He becomes a figure much larger than he himself actually was in hindsight, he a touchstone, a fountainhead, a rock, upon which we can place our fondest and dearest dreams.
As Cicero cautioned of those who would attempt to deconstruct the image planted by the poet:
Let me also state at the beginning of this lecture that I am not a scholar of Republican Rome, or of Imperial Rome, or a biographer of Cicero–I’m a scholar–at best–of republicanism, though. I presume everyone in the audience knows this. My interest with this talk, then, is not to look at Republican or Imperial Rome or to present a life and times of Cicero. Instead, I would like to look at Cicero as a symbol for the West and for American civilization.
This means that much of what I present will be “idylized,” that is, history as many in our past wanted it, not as it actually was. In his own dialogue, On the Laws, Cicero wisely notes that the oak tree planted by the poet’s verse will last much longer than the one resulting from the farmer’s cultivation.
The same, I believe, can be said of Cicero and his role within the West. He becomes a figure much larger than he himself actually was in hindsight, he a touchstone, a fountainhead, a rock, upon which we can place our fondest and dearest dreams.
As Cicero cautioned of those who would attempt to deconstruct the image planted by the poet:
“you should not be too particular in your researches
into things that are handed down in stories of this kind.”
[On the Laws, 106]
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario