CUI BONO?
Cui bono? (Classical Latin: [kui̯ ˈbɔnoː]), in English "to whom is it a benefit?" It can also be rendered as cui prodest? ("whom does it profit?") and ad cuius bonum? ("for whose good?").
The phrase translates literally as "For whose benefit?". The question is asked with respect to an action that seems designed to have no discernible positive result for anyone involved, except the perpetrator of the action. It expresses the view that crimes are often committed to benefit their perpetrators be it financially or otherwise.
The origin of the phrase has been traced back to Roman times where it was used in legal cases when a crime was committed not necessarily out of greed or money but for some other reason. 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?" and Marcus Tullius Cicero also used the principle of Cui bono is in his defence of Sextus Roscius, a Roman citizen from the municipality of Amelia accused of murdering his father, invoking Cassius as a source by stating that "Let that maxim of Cassius apply." In ancient Rome's law and legal procedure, the accuser is required to answer the question Cui bono.
In contemporary usage, it is used to raise questions about who benefits or might have benefited from a crime or incident under investigation. It is also used less formally as a rhetorical device in argumentation or debate.
This question is asked when it seems that the accused party does not have any obvious motive for committing the crime or that no one else has been identified as having a motive for committing it. For example, if someone dies from poison and there is no beneficiary to their death, then the police might ask: "Cui bono?" In this case, they would be looking at family members or friends of the victim who might benefit from his death (for example, inheriting his estate).
When faced with any challenging situation, you can ask the question cui bono? and by asking that question, the situation becomes easier to solve.
FROM THE DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH
Post a Comment