Through out history, as man progressed from a primitive animal to a
"human being" capable of thought and reason, mankind has had to throw
questions about the meaning of our own existence to ourselves. Out of those
trail of thoughts appeared religion, art, and philosophy, the fundamental
process of questioning about existence. Who we are, how we came to be,
where we are going, what the most ideal state is....... All these questions had
to be asked and if not given a definite answer, then at least given some idea
as to how to begin to search for, as humans probed deeper and deeper into
the riddle that we were all born into.
As time passed, the works of many thinkers and artists added up and it
became inevitable for the people who wanted to find some answers to the
ancient question, the question of existence, to trace back to the times of
the older thinkers to get an idea as to what we have been thinking about as
an important source for reaching the goal. Also, for the people who want to
study the ways of the people back in history, it is equally important to make
a study of the thinkers and artists of that time in order to define the
characteristics and personality of that age. So, as the goal of this report is
to find out what the people of ancient western world thought in view of the
concept and relationship between the human and the divine, it is inevitable
for us to also look into the thoughts and arts of that time.
In the works of Cicero, we see him asking questions about social
responsibility, about what it is that gives value to a human life. Cicero
conveys to us his belief that it is most natural for a person to show the
most defined characteristics such as magnanimity, and loftiness of the soul,
and courtesy, etc. , and that because of this, it is only true for a person to
take on the responsibilities of this world with this kind of attitude in tact...