Summary Of Marcus Tullius Cicero's Treatise On Friendship

In a time and place where emphasis was placed on God as the creator of mankind, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106BCE – 43BCE) (Balsdon), likely unknowingly, was displaying a great understanding of our species and the science behind it through his writing. In analyzing his work Treatise on Friendship, this paper will illustrate how Cicero’s character, Laelius’s arguments on friendship relate to the later theories of evolution and natural selection of naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882). (Editors)
Let’s begin by defining the two areas of study of the abovementioned influencers; that of Cicero – philosophy – is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the “study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence,” (“Philosophy”) and that of Darwin – biology – as “the branch of science that deals with living organisms as objects of study […]” (“Biology”). Fundamentally, these two areas of study have no correlation, however when considering the dialogue in Treatise on Friendship, Laelius states not only that nature has formed us, but goes on to personify nature as that which has caused our basic instincts (Cicero 86). Now consider Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, which postulates that our species, among others, has been naturally modified and evolved from previous generations (Ayala) – a theory which would affirm the ideas expressed by Cicero.
In an excerpt of Dr. Neel Burton’s book, Plato: Letters to my Son, posted on Psychology Today, a summary of Plato’s thoughts on friendship is as follows: “True friends seek together to live truer, fuller lives by relating to each other authentically […]” (Burton) From Treatise on Friendship: “friendship may be thus defined: a complete accord on all subjects human and divine, joined with mutual good-will and affection.” (Cicero 86) Both describing friendship as a relationship of mutual