Tusculan Disputations

The statesman, orator, and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero remains a writer whose influence has been felt for many centuries. Tusculan Disputations 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.

In a series of stimulating dialogues, Tusculan Disputations 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.

This is the first complete translation of Tusculan Disputations 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 On Duties and On Moral Ends, 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:

1. A detailed foreword and introduction
2. Summaries of the arguments of each book
3. Over six hundred and thirty annotations that explain places, names, and nuances in the text
4. Illustrations and photographs
5. A comprehensive index
6. Modern formatting of the dialogues for ease of reading and comprehension

This new translation restores Cicero's classic to its proper place in the history of Western philosophy.