De Amicitia

The History of Emotions: An Interview With William Reddy, Barbara Rosenwein, and Peter Stearns

“…WR: Since the publication of The Navigation of Feeling in 001, I have published two pieces-already mentioned-that show the compatibility of the theory of "emotives" with (1) a Wittgensteinian approach to social life (in 008), and () practice theory as developed by Bourdieu, Giddens, Ortner, Sewell, and others (in 2009). 8 I have, to some extent, tried to keep track of the rapid development of cognitive neuroscience and affective neuroscience; and, as discussed briefly in the 009 essay, I find much that confirms the critical approach to these fields laid out in The Navigation of Feeling.…”

Laws of Friendship

“…7 Cicero's De amicitia was not only written by a lawyer but also takes the form of a dialogue with Quintus Mucius Scaevola, one of Rome 's most famous lawyers and Cicero's tutor in his studies of law. 8 Andreas Alciatus, who in his in uential book of emblems includes four on amicitia (and eight on hostilitas), was one of the leaders of the European humanist reform of Renaissance law. 9 William Fulbeck, a prominent member of the Renaissance Inns of Court and author of a highly in uential "Preparative" or introduction to the study of law, also wrote extensively on the dangers of friendship to the ethical life that the lawyer should lead.…”

Erasmus and the Colloquial Emotions

“…In the Orator, it is equivalent to an authorial style, such as when he praises Xenophon, cuius sermo est ille quidem melle dulcior, a voice sweeter than honey, one quite removed from the wrangling of the forum.49 It can mean a person's distinctive mode of voice, as when Cicero in Brutus praises Laelia, the daughter of Gaius, for her careful usage (elegantia).50 In Brutus, it is also used as a synonym for a dialogue, or to refer to discussion in the senate.51 In the dialogue between Laelius and his sons-in-law, De amicitia, Cicero chooses sermo as a term to reflect an author's intention in rendering character, 'to create the impression that they are present and speaking in person' . 52 It is a commitment of living speech to memory, so that the actors are on stage before us. Its presence, in a crucial context in this work on friendship, demonstrates that for Cicero, sermo is associated with the representation of feeling as much as literary theory; indeed, the two are hardly distinguishable.…”