Not My Fault

So far we have concluded that when passions and actions are combined, the result is considered good or bad; virtue or vice. But are we always responsible for our actions? Was it done on purpose? This is important for us to recognize in order to deal with our souls realistically and is of vital importance for our laws. If we are going to either punish someone or honor them, it has to be justified. Even though some actions are wrong, we pity those who did them involuntarily. There are two classifications of involuntary actions: compulsion due to ignorance and compulsion from an outside source. A person might either be carried along by the wind or be forced to act by men who had them in their power.

Some might reason, “I was submitting to a cause” or “I was under a threat” and we might consider their acts involuntary. Each case can be debated. Sometimes an act appears justified because the person was under duress. A person of good character might have to violate his own principles because of extenuating circumstance. For a wartime spy or to preserve life, the actions are noble according to what side you are on. There is still a choice involved and we can say the act was done on purpose although there is kind of an involuntary characteristic too. But we can say that if the outside influence wasn't there, the person wouldn't have committed the act.

We praise people as heroes who endure pain for a great and noble cause. The opposite is true also. A person who endures pain for something that is worthless is considered a fool. But if someone falls apart under pressure that no one could handle, we feel sorry for them. But endurance for most things is expected of a noble person. There are perceived limits to endurance and what is worth suffering for. For certain things we should endure hardship until death and at any cost. But these things vary by person and their culture.  We can say that these causes and compulsions cause an internal struggle because living up to what is expected can be painful and the acts are what we wouldn't normally do. Those who live up to them are praised and those who don’t are blamed. 

So how do we figure out what was done on purpose and what was really forced on a person? Next time……