Book 3
4
To say that None would be vile, and none would not be blest Anon. Possibly a verse of Solon. Doubtless πονηρός, translated vile to suit the context here, in the original meant wretched. seems to be half false, though half true: it is true that no one is unwilling to be blessed, but not true that wickedness is involuntary;
5
or else we must contradict what we just now3.15. asserted, and say that man is not the originator and begetter of his actions as he is of his children.
6
But if it is manifest that a man is the author of his own actions, and if we are unable to trace our conduct back to many other origins than those within ourselves, then actions of which the origins are within us, themselves depend upon us, and are voluntary.
7
This conclusion seems to be attested both by men’s behavior in private life and by the practice of lawgivers; for they punish and exact redress from those who do evil (except when it is done under compulsion, or through ignorance for which the agent himself is not responsible), and honor those who do noble deeds, in order to encourage the one sort and to repress the other; but nobody tries to encourage us to do things that do not depend upon ourselves and are not voluntary, since it is no good our being persuaded not to feel heat or pain or hunger or the like, because we shall feel them all the same.
