Autore: Dutta, Bishakha
Titolo: When rules run out: Cicero’s De Officiis and the ethics of transparency in commercial transaction
Rivista/Miscellanea: Journal of Philosophical Economics, Vol. XIX
Anno edizione: 2026
Pagine: 21-61
Parole chiave: Héritage - Fortuna - Legacy, Philosophie - Filosofia - Philosophy
Descrizione: Cicero’s De Officiis confronts a problem that remains unresolved in modern business ethics: why should an agent choose the ethical course of action when the alternative carries a clear financial advantage? This paper addresses that question by applying the guidelines Cicero establishes in Books 1 and 2 to the two exempla of Book 3: the Alexandrian merchant who withholds knowledge of incoming grain ships from a famine-stricken Rhodes, and the house seller who conceals structural defects from an unknowing buyer. Through this analysis, the paper demonstrates that Cicero’s thesis, that the honestum is always truly utile, holds in concrete instances of economic exchange, and that this is a structural argument rather than a moral exhortation. The argument proceeds by resolving three tensions that arise in the cases: between permissible non-disclosure and wrongful concealment, between civil and natural law, and between disclosure obligations and competing duties. Building on Julia Annas’s claim that Cicero misreads the debate between Diogenes and Antipater by creating a conflict where none exists, this paper shows that the two interlocutors occupy complementary rather than competing vantage points. They are establishing a legal baseline and a moral ceiling within the same structure. Taking into account Karl Homann’s challenge that individual moral motivation is structurally insufficient under competitive conditions, the paper also argues that Cicero’s framework is itself systemic. Justice and fides are not only private virtues but also institutional conditions, and their erosion destroys the foundations of commerce rather than merely diminishing individual reputation. The paper concludes that Cicero’s ethical guidelines provide a framework for deliberating in the gap between what institutional rules require and what human fellowship demands. In doing so, the paper shows that Cicero not only anticipates but reframes the terms on which modern accounts of corporate social responsibility and stakeholder obligation rest. [Author]
Opere:
Link: https://jpe.episciences.org/19022/pdf
Sigla autore: Dutta 2026
Titolo: When rules run out: Cicero’s De Officiis and the ethics of transparency in commercial transaction
Rivista/Miscellanea: Journal of Philosophical Economics, Vol. XIX
Anno edizione: 2026
Pagine: 21-61
Parole chiave: Héritage - Fortuna - Legacy, Philosophie - Filosofia - Philosophy
Descrizione: Cicero’s De Officiis confronts a problem that remains unresolved in modern business ethics: why should an agent choose the ethical course of action when the alternative carries a clear financial advantage? This paper addresses that question by applying the guidelines Cicero establishes in Books 1 and 2 to the two exempla of Book 3: the Alexandrian merchant who withholds knowledge of incoming grain ships from a famine-stricken Rhodes, and the house seller who conceals structural defects from an unknowing buyer. Through this analysis, the paper demonstrates that Cicero’s thesis, that the honestum is always truly utile, holds in concrete instances of economic exchange, and that this is a structural argument rather than a moral exhortation. The argument proceeds by resolving three tensions that arise in the cases: between permissible non-disclosure and wrongful concealment, between civil and natural law, and between disclosure obligations and competing duties. Building on Julia Annas’s claim that Cicero misreads the debate between Diogenes and Antipater by creating a conflict where none exists, this paper shows that the two interlocutors occupy complementary rather than competing vantage points. They are establishing a legal baseline and a moral ceiling within the same structure. Taking into account Karl Homann’s challenge that individual moral motivation is structurally insufficient under competitive conditions, the paper also argues that Cicero’s framework is itself systemic. Justice and fides are not only private virtues but also institutional conditions, and their erosion destroys the foundations of commerce rather than merely diminishing individual reputation. The paper concludes that Cicero’s ethical guidelines provide a framework for deliberating in the gap between what institutional rules require and what human fellowship demands. In doing so, the paper shows that Cicero not only anticipates but reframes the terms on which modern accounts of corporate social responsibility and stakeholder obligation rest. [Author]
Opere:
Link: https://jpe.episciences.org/19022/pdf
Sigla autore: Dutta 2026
