Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.103 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.103
Their third argument is this: just as we maintain that some things seem expedient but are not, so they maintain, some things seem morally right but, are not. "For example," they contend, "in this very case it seems morally right for Regulus to have returned to torture for the sake of being true to his oath. But it proves not to be morally right, because what an enemy extorted by force ought not to have been binding." As their concluding argument, they add: whatever is highly expedient may prove to be morally right, even if it did not seem so in advance. These are in substance the arguments raised against the conduct of Regulus. Let us consider them each in turn.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.103, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.103
Cicero, On Duties (De Officiis), tr. Walter Miller (Loeb, 1913). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesThe objectors' remaining arguments: that Regulus's oath only seemed right but was not, because an oath extorted by an enemy should not bind, and that anything highly useful can turn out to be right. Cicero announces that he will answer them one by one.
Older wording
- “extorted”
- — obtained by force or threats
- “expedient”
- — useful or advantageous
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- Judgements and impressions
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