Tusculan Disputations

The statesman, orator, and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero remains a writer whose influence has been felt for many centuries. <i>Tusculan Disputations</i> is his most wide-ranging philosophical work, and was intended to introduce the Roman people to the pleasures and benefits of the study of philosophy. <p>In a series of stimulating dialogues, <i>Tusculan Disputations</i> examines some of the most fundamental questions of human life: the fear of death, the endurance of pain, the alleviation of sorrow, the various disorders of the soul, and the necessity of virtue for a happy life. These dialogues--accessible yet movingly profound--are perhaps even more relevant today than when they were first written. <p>This is the first complete translation of <i>Tusculan Disputations</i> to appear in English in nearly a hundred years. It uses a modern, vigorous idiom and a clear formatting of the dialogues to enhance understanding and readability. Translator Quintus Curtius, who has also translated Cicero's <i>On Duties</i> and <i>On Moral Ends</i>, has returned to the original Latin text to produce an edition that is accessible for the general reader, while rigorous enough for the serious student. It contains: <p>1. A detailed foreword and introduction<br>2. Summaries of the arguments of each book<br>3. Over six hundred and thirty annotations that explain places, names, and nuances in the text<br>4. Illustrations and photographs<br>5. A comprehensive index<br>6. Modern formatting of the dialogues for ease of reading and comprehension <p>This new translation restores Cicero's classic to its proper place in the history of Western philosophy.