Liber III, Pars I — Quod principalis intentio legislatoris debet esse circa repressionem concupiscentiarum, et non circa aequalitatem possessionum, ut Phaleas ordinavit. Cap. XVIII.

Liber III, Pars I — Quod principalis intentio legislatoris debet esse circa repressionem concupiscentiarum, et non circa aequalitatem possessionum, ut Phaleas ordinavit. Cap. XVIII.

It is fitting for kings and rulers, and universally for those who bear laws, to establish certain laws regarding the possessions of citizens, for even Solon, who was said to be skilled and learned in making laws, established many laws concerning the possessions of citizens. Likewise, in Locros, as the Philosopher recounts. Political. There was a king who ruled that in order to preserve the ancient laws intact, no one was allowed to sell their possessions unless they could sufficiently demonstrate that a great misfortune had occurred. For there are many matters to be determined in laws regarding possessions, but it is not expedient to establish a law about them, so that citizens may have equal possessions; nor should the primary intention of the legislator be about possessions, but rather it should focus more on the condemnation of desires, since the root of evils is not external possessions, but desire: for the root of all evils is greed. If, therefore, a disease should be treated more at its root and cause than elsewhere, the rulers of the citizens should focus more on suppressing desires than on other matters, as the Philosopher clearly demonstrates. Political. But we will speak more extensively about this below. However, we remember that we have produced a certain treatise. Regarding the distinction between ethics, rhetoric, and politics, the statements superficially considered seem to contradict what we have just said, but that controversy will be addressed later. For now, it suffices to know that the primary intention of the legislator should not be about measuring external possessions. We can pursue this through three different approaches. The first approach is taken from the aspect of goods that people desire. The second approach is from the aspect of pleasures that people pursue. The third approach is from the aspect of sorrows that people try to avoid. The first way is thus evident. Phaleas believed that all the conflicts in the city arose from the desire for property and control over external possessions; thus, he was mistaken in his opinion, because even if poor people are less in need of external goods, they often litigate over them. However, noble and favored individuals are more disturbed and indignant if they cannot attain the honor that is due to them. Therefore, if some citizens are poor and others are noble and honorable, it is the responsibility of the legislator not only to establish laws for the proper ordering of possessions but also to ensure that honors are distributed appropriately and justly. Moreover, the legislator should pay particular attention to honors, as disputes among honorable people are more detestable than those among others. The second way to investigate this matter is taken from the pleasures that people generally pursue. For people not only commit injustices and inflict injuries over external possessions out of greed, but they also harm the daughters and wives of citizens for the sake of pleasure and intemperance. Therefore, it is fitting for kings and princes not to legislate solely about the measurement of possessions, so that everyone may possess what is their own; but they should also establish many laws regarding the restraint of possessions, so that citizens do not become intemperate and inflict harm on the wives and daughters of others. Indeed, they should be even more concerned about this than about that, since wives and daughters are much more closely connected to them than external possessions. The third way is taken from the sorrows that people flee from as much as they can. People want to enjoy pleasures without sadness, so they harm others not only to satisfy their own needs, like to relieve hunger and fend off cold, but also because they think others can block their pleasures or bring them sorrow. Therefore, laws should not only be established regarding possessions, as Phaeleas suggested, but also for other matters, as has been sufficiently expressed.