Single Idea 7

[catalogued under 23. Ethics / B. Contract Ethics / 3. Promise Keeping]

Full Idea

If one borrowed a weapon from a friend who subsequently went out of his mind and then asked for it back, surely one ought not to return it?

Gist of Idea

Surely you don't return a borrowed weapon to a mad friend?

Source

Plato (The Republic [c.371 BCE], 331c)

Book Reference

Plato: 'Republic', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [OUP 1993], p.8


A Reaction

Only a Kantian would think of disagreeing with this obvious truth. There is no promise here, but an implicit moral commitment. Such things should always have an all-things-being-equal clause.

Related Idea

Idea 8015 Hobbes wants a contract to found morality, but shared values are needed to make a contract [MacIntyre on Hobbes]