Cui bono?
Cui bono? (Classical Latin: [kui̯ ˈbɔnoː]), in English "to whom is it a benefit?", is a Latin phrase about identifying crime suspects. It depends on the fact that crimes are often committed to benefit their perpetrators; especially financially.
Usage
[edit]The phrase is a double dative construction. It can also be rendered as cui prodest? ("whom does it profit?") and ad cuius bonum? ("for whose good?").
Background
[edit]L. Cassius ille, quem populus Romanus verissimum et sapientissimum iudicem putabat, identidem in causis quaerere solebat, cui bono fuisset? |
Lucius Cassius, whom the Roman people used to regard as a most honest and most wise judge, was in the habit of asking time and again in lawsuits: "to whom might it be for a benefit?" |
| —Cicero: 'Pro Roscio Amerino'[1] |
Cicero himself used the expression Cui bono in his 'Second Philippic', once again invoking Cassius as the source: "... adopt that maxim of Cassius: To whose advantage was it?"[2]
American sociologist Peter Blau has used the concept of cui bono to differentiate organizations depending on who has primarily benefited: owners; members; specific others; or the general society.[3]
See also
[edit]General:
References
[edit]- ^ Cicero, Pro Roscio Amerino, (30).84
- ^ Cicero, Philippics, 2.(14).35
- ^ Blau, Peter (1962): 'Formal Organizations: A Comparative Approach'.