[12]
But if the written law favors our case, we
must say that the oath of the dicast “to decide to the best of his
judgement” does not justify him in deciding contrary to the law, but
is only intended to relieve him from the charge of perjury, if he is ignorant of
the meaning of the law; that no one chooses that which is good absolutely, but
that which is good for himself;
that there is no
difference between not using the laws and their not being enacted; that in the
other arts there is no advantage in trying to be wiser than the physician, for
an error on his part does not do so much harm as the habit of disobeying the
authority; that to seek to be wiser than the laws is just what is forbidden in
the most approved laws. Thus much for the laws.
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Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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