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Full Idea
No matter whether a man commits adultery with the right woman or at the right time or in the right way, because anything of that kind is simply wrong.
Gist of Idea
There is no right time or place or way or person for the committing of adultery; it is just wrong
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1107a18)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.102
A Reaction
It would be nice if he gave a reason or a criterion for this opinion. Kekes says this points to something even more morally basic than virtue. Some acts should not even be considered.
Related Idea
Idea 20153 Doing the unthinkable damages ourselves, so it is more basic than any value [Kekes]
64 | There is no right time or place or way or person for the committing of adultery; it is just wrong [Aristotle] |
519 | One must avoid even speaking of evil deeds [Democritus (attr)] |
23182 | Legal justice is supreme, because it directs the other virtues to the common good [Aquinas] |
19458 | Egoism is the only evil, love the only good; genuine love produces all the other virtues [Feuerbach] |
24110 | Some things we would never do, even for the highest ideals [Nietzsche] |
4339 | According to virtue ethics, two agents may respond differently, and yet both be right [Hursthouse] |