Again she said,' If there are two persons before whom the same object is put by natural instinct, and one person carries his object through, working by his natural functions, but the other cannot put his natural instinct into practice, but using some function unsuitable to nature he can imitate the successful person, but not fulfil his original purpose, in this case, which of the two do you decide to be the more capable? '
'I think I guess what you mean, but I would hear more explicitly.'
'You will not, I think, deny that the motion of walking is a natural one to mankind? ' Page 107'No, I will not.'
'And is not that the natural function of the feet? '
'Yes.'
'If, then, one man walks, being able to advance upon his feet, while another, who lacks the natural function of feet, uses his hands and so tries to walk, which of these two may justly be held the more capable?
'
'Weave me other riddles I ' I exclaimed, ' for can any one doubt that a man who enjoys his natural functions, is more capable than one who is incapable in that respect? '
'But in the case of the highest good,' she said,' it is equally the purpose set before good and bad men; good men seek it by the natural functions of virtue, while bad men seek to attain the same through their cupidity, which is not a natural function for the attainment of good.
Think you not so? '
'I do indeed,' said I; ' this is plain, as also is the deduction which follows.For it must be, from what I have already allowed, that the good are powerful, the wicked weak.'
'Your anticipation is right; and as doctors are wont to hope, it shews a lively nature now fit to withstand disease.But I see that you are very ready in understanding, and I will multiply my arguments one upon another.See how great is the weakness of these wicked men who cannot even attain that to which their natural instinct leads them, nay, almost drives them.And further, how if they are deprived of this Page 108great, this almost invincible, aid of a natural instinct to follow?
Think what a powerlessness possesses these men.They are no light objects which they seek; they seek no objects in sport, objects which it is impossible that they should achieve.They fail in the very highest of all things, the crown of all, and in this they find none of the success for which they labour day and night in wretchedness.But herein the strength of good men is conspicuous.If a man could advance on foot till he arrived at an utmost point beyond which there was no path for further advance, you would think him most capable of walking: equally so, if a man grasps the very end and aim of his search, you must think him most capable.Wherefore also the contrary is true; that evil men are similarly deprived of all strength.
For why do they leave virtue and follow after vice? Is it from ignorance of good? Surely not, for what is weaker or less compelling than the blindness of ignorance? Do they know what they ought to follow, and are they thrown from the straight road by passions? Then they must be weak too in self-control if they cannot struggle with their evil passions.But they lose thus not only power, but existence all together.For those who abandon the common end of all who exist, must equally cease to exist.And this may seem strange, that we should say that evil men, though the majority of mankind, do not exist at all; but it is so.For while I do not deny that evil men are evil, I do deny that they " are," Page 109in the sense of absolute existence.You may say, for instance, that a corpse is a dead man, but you cannot call it a man.In a like manner, though I grant that wicked men are bad, I cannot allow that they are men at all, as regards absolute being.A thing exists which keeps its proper place and preserves its nature; but when anything falls away from its nature, its existence too ceases, for that lies in its nature.You will say, "Evil men are capable of evil ": and that I would not deny.But this very power of theirs comes not from strength, but from weakness.They are capable of evil; but this evil would have no efficacy if it could have stayed under the operation of good men.And this very power of ill shews the more plainly that their power is naught.For if, as we have agreed, evil is nothing, then, since they are only capable of evil, they are capable of nothing '
'That is quite plain.'
'I would have you understand what is this strength of power.
We have a little while ago laid down that nothing is more powerful than the highest good? '
'Yes,' I said.
'But the highest good can do no evil? '
'No.'
'Is there any one who thinks that men are all-powerful?
'
'No one,' I said,' unless he be mad.'
'And yet those same men can do evil.' Would to heaven they could not! ' I cried.' Then a powerful man is capable only of all Page 110good; but even those who are capable of evil, are not capable of all:
so it is plain that those who are capable of evil, are capable of less.
Further, we have shewn that all power is to be counted among objects of desire, and all objects of desire have their relation to the good, as to the coping-stone of their nature.But the power of committing crime has no possible relation to the good.Therefore it is not an object of desire.
Yet, as we said, all power is to be desired.Therefore the power of doing evil is no power at all.For all these reasons the power of good men and the weakness of evil men is apparent.So Plato's opinion 1 is plain that " the wise alone are able to do what they desire, but unscrupulous men can only labour at what they like, they cannot fulfil their real desires."They do what they like so long as they think that they will gain through their pleasures the good which they desire; but they do not gain it, since nothing evil ever reaches happiness.
'Kings you may see sitting aloft upon their thrones, gleaming with purple, hedged about with grim guarding weapons, threatening with 110:1 -- From Plato's Gorgias (466).
