Ath.Then as to unjust hurts (and gains also,supposing the injustice to bring gain),of these we may heal as many as are capable of being healed,regarding them as diseases of the soul;and the cure of injustice will take the following direction.
Cle.What direction?
Ath.When any one commits any injustice,small or great,the law will admonish and compel him either never at all to do the like again,or never voluntarily,or at any rate in a far less degree;and he must in addition pay for the hurt.Whether the end is to be attained by word or action,with pleasure or pain,by giving or taking away privileges,by means of fines or gifts,or in whatsoever way the law shall proceed to make a man hate injustice,and love or not hate the nature of the just-this is quite the noblest work of law.But if the legislator sees any one who is incurable,for him he will appoint a law and a penalty.He knows quite well that to such men themselves there is no profit in the continuance of their lives,and that they would do a double good to the rest of mankind if they would take their departure,inasmuch as they would be an example to other men not to offend,and they would relieve the city of bad citizens.In such cases,and in such cases only,the legislator ought to inflict death as the punishment of offences.
Cle.What you have said appears to me to be very reasonable,but will you favour me by stating a little more clearly the difference between hurt and injustice,and the various complications of the voluntary and involuntary which enter into them?
Ath.I will endeavour to do as you wish:-Concerning the soul,thus much would be generally said and allowed,that one element in her nature is passion,which may be described either as a state or a part of her,and is hard to be striven against and contended with,and by irrational force overturns many things.
Cle.Very true.
Ath.And pleasure is not the same with passion,but has an opposite power,working her will by persuasion and by the force of deceit in all things.
Cle.Quite true.
Ath.A man may truly say that ignorance is a third cause of crimes.Ignorance,however,may be conveniently divided by the legislator into two sorts:there is simple ignorance,which is the source of lighter offences,and double ignorance,which is accompanied by a conceit of wisdom;and he who is under the influence of the latter fancies that he knows all about matters of which he knows nothing.This second kind of ignorance,when possessed of power and strength,will be held by the legislator to be the source of great and monstrous times,but when attended with weakness,will only result in the errors of children and old men;and these he will treat as errors,and will make laws accordingly for those who commit them,which will be the mildest and most merciful of all laws.
Cle.You are perfectly right.
Ath.We all of us remark of one man that he is superior to pleasure and passion,and of another that he is inferior to them;and this is true.
Cle.Certainly.
Ath.But no one was ever yet heard to say that one of us is superior and another inferior to ignorance.
Cle.Very true.
Ath.We are speaking of motives which incite men to the fulfilment of their will;although an individual may be often drawn by them in opposite directions at the same time.
Cle.Yes,often.
Ath.And now I can define to you clearly,and without ambiguity,what I mean by the just and unjust,according to my notion of them:-When anger and fear,and pleasure and pain,and jealousies and desires,tyrannize over the soul,whether they do any harm or not-Icall all this injustice.But when the opinion of the best,in whatever part of human nature states or individuals may suppose that to dwell,has dominion in the soul and orders the life of every man,even if it be sometimes mistaken,yet what is done in accordance therewith,the principle in individuals which obeys this rule,and is best for the whole life of man,is to be called just;although the hurt done by mistake is thought by many to be involuntary injustice.Leaving the question of names,about which we are not going to quarrel,and having already delineated three sources of error,we may begin by recalling them somewhat more vividly to our memory:-One of them was of the painful sort,which we denominate anger and fear.
Cle.Quite right.
Ath.There was a second consisting of pleasures and desires,and a third of hopes,which aimed at true opinion about the best.The latter being subdivided into three,we now get five sources of actions;and for these five we will make laws of two kinds.
Cle.What are the two kinds?
Ath.There is one kind of actions done by violence and in the light of day,and another kind of actions which are done in darkness and with secret deceit,or sometimes both with violence and deceit;the laws concerning these last ought to have a character of severity.
Cle.Naturally.
Ath.And now let us return from this digression and complete the work of legislation.Laws have been already enacted by us concerning the robbers of the Gods,and concerning traitors,and also concerning those who corrupt the laws for the purpose of subverting the government.A man may very likely commit some of these crimes,either in a state of madness or when affected by disease,or under the influence of extreme old age,or in a fit of childish wantonness,himself no better than a child.And if this be made evident to the judges elected to try the cause,on the appeal of the criminal or his advocate,and he be judged to have been in this state when he committed the offence,he shall simply pay for the hurt which he may have done to another;but he shall be exempt from other penalties,unless he have slain some one,and have on his hands the stain of blood.And in that case he shall go to another land and country,and there dwell for a year;and if he return before the expiration of the time which the law appoints,or even set his foot at all on his native land,he shall be bound by the guardians of the law in the public prison for two years,and then go free.