理想国

　　'In my opinion,'I replied, 'it is in the finest class, which is to be valued by anyone who wants to be happy, both for itself and for its conse-quences.'　　cThat's not what most people think,'he said. 'Most people would put it in the unpleasant class, which we should cultivate in return for payment and reputation, on account of public opinion, but which purely for itself is to be avoided like the plague.'　　'I know that's what they think,'I said. 'Thrasymachus criticised it -and praised injustice-on those grounds some while back. But I'm a slow learner, apparendy.'　　'Well,'he said, 'listen to me as well, and see if you agree with what I suggest. I think Thrasymachus too readily allowed himself to be bewitched by you, like a snake being charmed by a snake-charmer. As far as I'm concerned, the proof is not yet convincing, either for justice or injustice. I want to be told what each of them is, and what effect it has,just by itself, when it is present in the soul. I want to forget about the rewards and results it brings. So here's what I am going to do, if you have no objection. I'm going to revive Thrasymachus'argument. First I shall say what kind of thing people reckon justice is, and how they think it arises. Secondly I shall claim that all those who practise it do so as some-thing unavoidable, against their will, and not because they regard it as a good. Thirdly I shall say that this is a rational way for them to behave,since the unjust man, in their view, has a much better life than the just　　man. These are not my own opinions, Socrates. But I am dismayed by the unending sound in my ears of Thrasymachus and thousands like him,whereas I have never yet heard from anyone, in the form I would like to hear it, the argument for justice, the argument that it is something better than injustice. I want to hear it praised simply for itself, and I have high hopes that you,if anyone, can do this for me. So I am going to make the　　most powerful speech I can in defence of the unjust life, and in my speech　　I shall show you how I want to hear you, in your turn, criticising injustice and defending justice. There you are. See if you approve of my sugges-tion.'　　'I'd like nothing better,'I replied. 'What else would anyone with any sense prefer to make a habit of talking about or hearing about?'　　cThat's good,'he said. 'Now, listen to the first thing I said I was going to talk about-what sort of thing justice is, and how it arises. Doing　　wrong, men say, is by its nature a good-and being wronged an evil-but　　the evil of being wronged outweighs the good of doing wrong. As a result,when people wrong one another and are wronged by one another, and get　　a taste of both, those who are unable to avoid the one and achieve the other think it will pay them to come to an agreement with one another not to do wrong and not to be wronged. That's how they come to start making laws and agreements with one another, and calling lawful and just that which is laid down by the law.They say that this is the origin and essen-tial nature of justice, that it is a compromise between the best case, which　　is doing wrong and getting away with it, and the worst case, which is being wronged and being unable to retaliate. Justice, being half-way between these two extremes, is not prized as a good; it finds its value merely in people's want of power to do wrong. The person who does have the power to do wrong-the true man-would never make an agreement with anyone not to do wrong and not to be wronged. It would be lunatic for him to do that. That, more or less,is the nature of justice, Socrates. That is what it is like, and those are the kinds of causes which gave rise to it,according to this theory.　　……