Secundum De Officiis' Part I Metaphysics

Abstract

Following upon ( = Secundum) Cicero's next to last work Of Offices, this three-part series presents what Cicero would have lauded: a justification of the Roman ideal of voluntary service, under obligation. The office, at once moral and useful within the same functionality, becomes a composite inviting metaphysical, ethical, esthetic, legal and cultural considerations.

In the first paper the instrumental use of metaphysics is introduced as desirable to the objective; Weber's theory updates the office to the modern period, after which follow definitions of 'office' and 'stewardship'. The rest of the paper works back to these definitions from arguments establishing metaphysical conditions necessary to legitimate prerogative in the context of authority and stewardship.

Keywords: office, stewardship, metaphysics, authority, dignity