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What Would Stoics Do

Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE

On Duties 3.40 — Cicero (on the Stoics)

Translation by Walter Miller (1913)

Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.40

Many cases oftentimes arise to perplex our minds with a specious appearance of expediency: the question raised in these cases is not whether moral rectitude is to be sacrificed to some considerable advantage (for that would of course be wrong), but whether the apparent advantage can be secured without moral wrong. When Brutus deposed his colleague Collatinus from the consular office, his treatment of him might have been thought unjust; for Collatinus had been his associate, and had helped him with word and deed in driving out the royal family. But when the leading men of the state had determined that all the kindred of Superbus and the very name of the Tarquins and every reminder of the monarchy should be obliterated, then the course that was expedient—namely, to serve the country's interests—was so pre-eminently right, that it was even Collatinus's own duty to acquiesce in its justice. And so expediency gained the day because of its moral rightness; for without moral rectitude there could have been no possible expediency. Not so in the case of the king who founded the city:
— Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.40 · tr. Walter Miller (1913)Read in context →

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Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.40, tr. Walter Miller (1913)

https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.40

Cicero, On Duties (De Officiis), tr. Walter Miller (Loeb, 1913). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences

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In plain English

AI-written notes

The real question in apparent conflicts is never whether to give up what is right for a big advantage, but whether the advantage can be had without wrongdoing. The removal of Collatinus is offered as a case where serving the country was also right, so what was useful won only because it was morally right.

Older wording

“specious”
— misleadingly plausible
“acquiesce”
— accept without protest
“expediency”
— usefulness or advantage

Themes and situations

  • Duty and roles
  • Justice and fairness
  • Community and our duty to others
  • Leadership and power
  • An ethical dilemma

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Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.40, tr. Walter Miller (1913)