THE PREFACE.

This error refuted.

Carneades' argument against justice.

To avoid confusion when arguing against a crowd of opponents, let us give them a spokesperson. Who is more fit for this role than Carneades? Carneades (c. 214–129 BC) was a Greek philosopher and head of the Skeptical Academy in Athens, famous for arguing both sides of every issue to show that certainty is impossible. He reached such a height and perfection of eloquence that he could argue as strongly for error as for truth. Having undertaken to speak against Justice—especially that part of it we are now defending—he could find no argument more forceful than this: "Men," he says, "have created laws for themselves for the sake of profit. These laws vary according to different customs and change over time. In reality, there is no natural law or right at all. All men and other living creatures are led by the mere guidance of nature toward things that are profitable to themselves. Therefore, either justice does not exist at all, or if it does, it is extreme folly, because it harms itself to enrich others." But what the philosopher says here, and the poet after him:

Nature cannot distinguish what is just from what is unjust.

original: What’s Just, or Unjust, Nature can’t discern. A quote from the Roman poet Horace.

How man differs from all other creatures.

This view must not be accepted. For man is indeed a living being, but one far more excellent than all others. He differs much more from other animals than they do from one another, as can easily be shown by many actions unique to humankind. One such action is that he strongly desires society—that is, community. However, he does not seek just any community, but one that is peaceful and organized according to his intellect, among those of his own kind. The Stoics call this social instinct original Greek: οἰκείωσιν (oikeiōsin), meaning a sense of affinity or belonging to others. John Chrysostom An important early Christian Church Father and Archbishop of Constantinople says that humans naturally have a society with other humans; and why not, seeing that even beasts have the same with their own kind? In another place, he tells us that nature has instilled the very seeds of virtue into our minds. Marcus Aurelius (the Emperor who was so highly famed for his philosophy) also testifies to this: "That we were born for community has long been obvious. Is it not plain," he asks, "that nature frames all things in an orderly way, when we see lower things made for the better, and the better things made for one another?" Therefore, Carneades’ claim—that every creature is led by natural instinct only toward what is profitable for itself—is not true if applied to everyone. Some animals are willing to give up some of their own profit for the sake of their young or others of their own species. The proverb hints at this when it says, One dog will not eat another original: Canis Caninam non est. And the poet confirms it:

Juvenal.

Tigers, though fierce, are at peace with other tigers;

And every beast will spare its own kindred.

Regarding the Fifth Commandment.

It was therefore the advice of Philo Philo of Alexandria, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher: "Let men," he says, "learn gratitude from 'dumb' meaning 'mute' or 'non-speaking' beasts. The dog will defend the house of the master who feeds him, and will often expose himself even to death for him, up—"