Plato's dialogue Hippias Minor is an often overlooked dialogue which deals with an important topic in ethics: intent. We'd probably all agree that it's worse to do voluntary evil than it is to do involuntary evil. The US legal system even reflects this with the requirement of mens rea. However Plato takes a different stance. He asks, is not the runner who voluntary runs slow a better runner than the one who involuntary runs slow? Is the singer who voluntarily sings bad not a better singer than the one who involuntarily sings bad? In this video I provide 4 critiques of this argument focusing on intent vs effect, the 'goal-orientation' of the examples given, the lack of definitions given for voluntary vs involuntary, and Plato's conception of human souls.
#philosophy #plato #ancienthistory

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