Introduction: Cicero's Philosophical Oratory
The introduction sets out the main thesis of the book, i.e. that one hallmark of Cicero's oratory is a conceptual creativity that one may loosely qualify as philosophical. It informs unconventional constructions of realities at the level of the human being and the human condition, politics, society and culture, and the sphere of the supernatural. These levels can be called Cicero's anthropology, sociology, and theology. Several preliminary issues receive discussion: the seemingly awkward marriage of oratory and philosophy that is here presupposed for Cicero's speeches; what, precisely, the ‘creative’ dimension of his orations is taken to consist in; methodological problems in identifying this dimension in the texts; and the decidedly theory‐driven presentation of the findings.
Keywords: anthropology, Cicero, creativity, culture, human, methodology, oratory, philosophy, politics, reality, society, sociology, supernatural, theology, theory
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