Strona 194 z 1391

We are tempted also to doubt whether Plato is right in supposing

that an offender, however justly condemned, could be expected to

acknowledge the justice of his sentence; this is the spirit of a

philosopher or martyr rather than of a criminal.

We may observe how nearly Plato approaches Aristotle's famous

thesis, that 'good actions produce good habits.' The words 'as

healthy practices (Greek) produce health, so do just practices

produce justice,' have a sound very like the Nicomachean Ethics.

But we note also that an incidental remark in Plato has become a

far-reaching principle in Aristotle, and an inseparable part of a

great Ethical system.