Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009

There's some context that you haven't included that explains this.
For example, it might say that an elected official should always be
truthful.  Your sentence goes on to say that one should always be
truthful even if one is not in a position of power.  "Otherwise"
refers to "be truthful" in this example.

 

Differently; anything ("any"- because the context is negative)
different.

I think part of the difficulty is that "obligation" is the noun for
two verbs: obligate and oblige.  The meanings of the two overlap a
good deal, but "obligate", with its clearer connection to the noun and
to ideas of binding, has for me more the sense of moral constraint,
the incurring of a debt which must be paid.  "Obliged" can simply mean
"forced, required".

I note that the two other replies now on my screen have been based on
"oblige", in spite of the fact that the writer has only used the verb
"obligate".  I think that that is because the writer has moved from
the "bound" meaning of "obligate", through the noun which is related
to both verbs, to the "force" meaning of "oblige" in the second half
of the sentence, without making this clear.

I think, in other words, that he is saying that a powerful person is
not, on account of his power, under any obligation (does not owe
anything), because "obligation" is defined as something that
constrains freedom of choice (that forces or "obliges" him to act in a
certain way).  I suppose that, if the statement were better expressed,
it would make sense in a context where moral constraints are not
relevant; a counterargument would be in the proverbial "noblesse
oblige".  This is a pun turning on two quite different meanings of
"oblige": nobility *requires*  one to *be obliging*);  and  on a
double meaning for "nobility" too.

Yilaner, if I was in the mood, I'd turn the lights down low and reply
with soft music, but you'll have to accept this instead::

Otherwise = differently

The person who has the power is required (obligated) to do the thing by
virtue of his authority.  In other words, he must do something
(whatever is left out in context) in order to facilitate the station
that is his office.

Piling on here... My interpretation is:

"Having power does not oblige a person to act in a certain way
[presumably clarified by the context you haven't provided], because to
be 'obliged' means not having a choice about whether to do something,
and it is the nature of power that it gives those who have it the
option of not using it."

I'm not sure I believe this, but it seems to be what the author meant,
once you unpack the negatives.  My interpretation is that "obligation"
is merely mentioned in the quoted sentence rather than used.
"Otherwise" here (mark that use-mention distinction again) means
"differently" or "something else" here, and refers to something in the
context which you haven't provided.

-GAWollman

The meaning of "otherwise" is clear, even though the sentence as a whole
isn't.

"otherwise" mean something other than what one is obliged to do in terms of
the obligation.

For example, if the obligation is to jump up and down ten times shouting
"green scaly skunks" then "otherwise" means doing anything other than that.

I'm not sure where power comes in, though.