Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.91 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.91
Again, he raises the question: "If a wise man should inadvertently accept counterfeit money for good, will he offer it as genuine in payment of a debt after he discovers his mistake?" Diogenes says, "Yes"; Antipater, "No," and I agree with him. If a man knowingly offers for sale wine that is spoiling, ought he to tell his customers? Diogenes thinks that it is not required; Antipater holds that an honest man would do so. These are like so many points of the law disputed among the Stoics. "In selling a slave, should his faults be declared—not those only which the seller is bound by the civil law to declare or have the slave returned to him, but also the fact that he is untruthful, or disposed to gamble, or steal, or get drunk?" The one thinks such facts should be declared, the other does not.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.91, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.91
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 notesMore test cases in honest dealing: if you unknowingly accepted counterfeit money, you should not pass it on as genuine once you find out, and a seller of spoiling wine should say so. Cicero sides with the stricter teacher, Antipater, on these; one example involves selling a slave, which reflects the acceptance of slavery in the period.
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Speech and silence
- Wealth and poverty
- An ethical dilemma
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