A person justifies a wrong by the logic that, being exceptional, he may step beyond the ordinary rule. Make a greater cause or a better outcome the pretext, and even a line that must not be crossed seems crossable. But does a good pretext erase the wrongness of the act? By what is the right kept?
THE QUESTION THE FILM ASKS
With 'for a better outcome,' do I justify crossing a line that should not be crossed?
THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER · ORIGINAL
οὐδαμῶς ἄρα δεῖ ἀδικεῖν
📜 THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER
Then we ought never to do wrong at all, in any way.
💡 TL;DR
To Crito, Socrates insisted that we must never do wrong, however good the end may look.
📝The Classic Answers
To Crito, Socrates insisted that we must never do wrong, however good the end may look. The logic that one's own exceptional nature licenses stepping beyond the rule is always plausible. It is easy to persuade oneself that, for a greater cause, this much is fine. But no good pretext turns a wrong into a right. Before the lure of outcome and pretext, I choose first to recall that the right lies not in how exceptional I am but in a line that must not be crossed.
— ONGO · Curator
🌱Apply It Today
If a choice today is one you'd pass off as 'the result is good' or 'I am different,' erase the pretext and ask whether the means itself is right.
📖 Classic Source:
Socrates (Plato, Crito).
Ancient text in the public domain; rendered and interpreted independently by ONGO.
The film is honored as an equal questioner; its plot is rendered only as a universal dilemma. The classic source is an ancient text (Public Domain), and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
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A Bridge Between Eras — the wisdoms this question threads
Reading the new through the old — classics this question awakens.
