recta ratio

Meaning

Noun

• “Right reason”, which regards virtue as desirable in itself.

Origin

• First attested in an English text in 1677; borrowed from Latin rēcta ratiō ("right reason"), a calque of Ancient Greek ὀρθὸς λόγος. Cf. Cicero, De leg. I, 7, I, 2: “Recta ratio - quae cum sit lex, lege quoque consociati homines cum diis putandi sumus.”
• Term used in a letter to "Tom" by John Locke, October 20, 1659: “...We are all centaurs, and ’tis the beast that carries us, and everyone’s recta ratio is but the traverses of his own steps.”