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152 7 The Politico-­Philosophical Character of Cicero’s Verdict in De Natura Deorum David Fott “The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.”1 Those words begin Cosmos, the widely hailed book by the eminent scientist Carl Sagan. Sagan made great contributions to our thinking about the universe by applying to it the method of modern science.That method required him to be open to new suggestions about the cosmos and skeptical of received wisdom about it. Sagan would not have accomplished so much as he did without having that openness and skepticism to a great degree.The opening words of Cosmos, however, are as dogmatic as anything one would hear from a religious fundamentalist. How could Sagan have known—as opposed to assumed—those words were true? Modern science cannot tell us about anything outside the cosmos, but it does not follow that nothing outside the cosmos exists, or did exist, or will exist. Sagan took a leap of faith in making his claim. It is reasonable to surmise he took it because according The Character of Cicero’s Verdict in De Natura Deorum  153 to modern science, whatever exists is assumed to be not only intelligible but also predictable.The fact that Sagan opened his book with that boast illustrates how difficult it is for skeptics (as to some extent modern scientists are) not to become dogmatic,especially on the most important questions. That point is the central message of Cicero’s dialogue on theology, DeNaturaDeorum,andtheanswertoapuzzleheleavesforusattheend of the work.The dialogue occurs among three characters representing the approaches to theology of three philosophical schools: ­ Epicurean, Stoic, and New Academic.2 Epicurus’s teaching on theology was based on Democritus’s doctrine that the universe consists of atoms in a void, moving with no inherent purpose. We know that gods exist, Epicurus said,because all people believe in them,but the gods are also made of atoms,and they do not intervene in the mechanical workings of the universe. Stoic theology was also materialistic but focused on the divine mind (which consisted of matter as fire, aether, or air) as the ultimate reality. The affirmation of a single divine mind was held to be consistent with the existence of many gods. Stoics affirmed the providential care of gods for the universe and for humans in particular. By contrast,the Academy—which had been founded by Plato and to which Cicero subscribed more than any other school—took a critical stance toward all philosophical and religious questions. It sought to avoid dogmatism on those matters, on the conviction that certainty is unavailable to humans. According to Cicero, the school maintained “not that nothing seems true,but . . .that false sorts of things are joined to all true things by such a similarity that there is no definite mark in them for judging and assenting. From this it stands out that many things are probable; although they are not thoroughly comprehended, nevertheless because they have a sort of distinguished and bright appearance a wise person may regulate his life” (Nat. D. 1.12). To be an Academic was to subscribe to a method, not to any substantive conclusions . In another work Cicero refers to “that true and elegant philosophy ,conducted by Socrates”(Tusc. 4.6).For Socrates,who wrote no treatise or dialogue we know of, philosophy is not a doctrine advanced by a school or a set of fixed conclusions; it is a way of life,the pursuit of wisdom, the striving after knowledge of the whole.That Cicero under­ stands philosophy in this way is further supported by his claims that 154  David Fott he pursued philosophy from his youth and that “I have philosophized the most when I have least seemed to be doing so” (Nat. D. 1.6). That remark is an obvious reference to the long periods of his life spent as a politician and a lawyer; it seems to indicate he sees philosophy as a continuous pursuit that does not require the constant reading and writing of philosophical works. Still more evidence for the view that Cicero sees philosophy as a way of life is found in his statement, “I will hold to the ordinance of no single teaching as if I were bound to laws that I must obey in philosophy; I will always seek what is most probable in each matter” (Tusc. 4.7). He seeks what is most probable since the truth itself lies “hidden in...

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