溫故知新 Old wisdom, today’s insight — ONGO
How Differs What I Did by My Own Hand from What I Was Forced To?
How is an act done voluntarily distinguished from one done under force or ignorance, and to which alone does regret justly attach?
What is up to us — praise and blame hang on this alone.
This question first drew the map of responsibility. Socrates, holding that "no one does evil knowingly," traced all wrongdoing to ignorance — leaving no sinner anywhere left to regret. Aristotle refused this: we choose badly even while knowing, and it is precisely that voluntariness that gives regret and blame their meaning. Yet the Stoics turned again, narrowing it — outward acts are not ours, only judgment is our portion. In the modern age Kant radicalized Aristotle's "up to us" into a noumenal freedom. For regret to be possible there must be freedom, and how far one grants freedom's reach reshapes the size of regret.
The more brain science and social conditions say "it is not your fault," the sharper this question grows between comfort and evasion: what, nonetheless, is truly my portion?
Aristotle dissected regret not as a feeling but as a structure: praise, blame, and regret attach justly only to what is "up to us." One who was shoved does not regret the fall.
📝I, Too, Stand Before It
Aristotle dissected regret not as a feeling but as a structure: praise, blame, and regret attach justly only to what is "up to us." One who was shoved does not regret the fall. I sense this cool distinction is in fact a mercy that sorts regret — separating what was truly my choice from what could not be helped. I stand before this question too, retracing one by one whether the regrets that stab me at night really came from my own hand.
✍️Your Answer
The lineage of the ancients ends here. Now it is your turn before the question. There is no right answer — only how you, today, would answer.
🔒 This answer is stored only on your device. It is never sent to a server.
This is not a museum of answers but a lineage of questions. All sources are public-domain texts; the lineage and reflection are 100% original ONGO content.
