 Should we take Cicero at face value here? Although one can understand that having to deal with opposing views may make it more difficult to establish the kind of basis for systems of law and justice that he has in mind, that could surely apply to any philosophical thesis and any sort of opposition. One might even suppose that attacking an edifice, however elegantly constructed, might lead to a stronger edifice being built. Cicero in fact says that he would like to appease the sceptics and does not dare drive them off (1.39). So why does Cicero attempt just here to stifle debate? Why, in particular, does he draw attention to the fact that that is what he is doing? He need not have mentioned the sceptics, nor for that matter the Epicureans. He need not have chosen Atticus as a participant whom he could then ask not to dispute his basic premise.