Law vs. Nature

There are laws that are made rule over men. These laws oppose nature, as laws are made to do, because nature states that the strong should rule over the weak. Laws opposing nature would be strict on the strong and less so on the weak, in order to take away the natural advantage of the strong. This is the Proportionality of Strength of Law to the Strength of the Individual.

Ex. Luxury Tax, proportionality tax, income tax, etc…

To be controlled is to be subjected to the Law. Self-control is control or rule over oneself, and only the weak are controlled; so, it stands to reason that the self-control is for the weak. There is a level of strength at which one is no longer subject to law. At that level, nothing controls the individual, and he pursues his wants with reckless abandon and an insatiable thirst. In a case such as this, he is considered strong as long as he is still fulfilling his wants and needs as he sees fit.

If that ability to satisfy this thirst is what makes men strong, then it is the inhibition of this ability that makes men weak – or labels them as such. This inhibition can come from society as well as the self in the form of laws and self-control, respectively. This speaks to the ‘weakening’ of the strong by laws that are created by weaker men.

-Protagoras

If a man constantly satisfies his wants until he has no more, that point will be one of neutrality, in which neither pleasure nor pain will be experienced; that doesn’t sound like ‘the good life.’

If a man constantly satisfies his wants and can never reach that point of neutrality because of his avarice or greed, he will never believe himself to be happy.

This is especially true in instances where the satisfaction of that want is in response to a pain that is felt until the want is satiated.

-Socrates