St. George Stock (modern guide) · 1850–1922
A Guide to Stoicism 4 ¶38 — St. George Stock (modern guide)
From “Ethic”
Original English text (1908)
St. George Stock (modern guide), A Guide to Stoicism 4 ¶38
Another glaring paradox of the Stoics is that "All faults are equal". They took their stand upon a mathematical conception of rectitude. An angle must be either a right angle or not, a line must be either straight or crooked, so an act must be either right or wrong. There is no mean between the two and there are no degrees of either. To sin is to cross the line. When once that has been done it makes no difference to the offense how far you go. Trespassing at all is forbidden. This doctrine was defended by the Stoics on account of its bracing moral effect as showing the heinousness of sin. Horace gives the judgment of the world in saying that common sense and morality, to say nothing of utility, revolt against it.
Cite this passage
St. George Stock (modern guide), A Guide to Stoicism 4 ¶38 (1908)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/a-guide-to-stoicism/4.38
St. George Stock, Stoicism (1908), text of the Haldeman-Julius reprint “A Guide to Stoicism”. Text: Project Gutenberg #7514. Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesThe Stoic paradox that all faults are equal treats right and wrong like straight and crooked lines, where there are no degrees, so any trespass is the same crossing of the line. It was defended for its bracing moral effect, though common sense revolts against it.
Older wording
- “heinousness”
- — extreme wickedness
- “rectitude”
- — moral correctness
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- Justice and fairness
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