§5.4τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν ἓν τὸ διορθωτικόν, ὃ γίνεται ἐν τοῖς συναλλάγμασι καὶ τοῖς ἑκουσίοις καὶ τοῖς ἀκουσίοις.
The remaining one species is the corrective, which occurs in transactions, both voluntary and involuntary.
τοῦτο δὲ τὸ δίκαιον ἄλλο εἶδος ἔχει τοῦ πρότερον.
This just has a different form from the previous one.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ διανεμητικὸν δίκαιον τῶν κοινῶν ἀεὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν ἐστὶ τὴν εἰρημένην· καὶ γὰρ ἀπὸ χρημάτων κοινῶν ἐὰν γίνηται ἡ διανομή, ἔσται κατὰ τὸν λόγον τὸν αὐτὸν ὅνπερ ἔχουσι πρὸς ἄλληλα τὰ εἰσενεχθέντα·
For the distributive just of common funds is always according to the aforementioned proportion; indeed, even if a distribution is made from common assets, it will be according to the same ratio which the contributions have to one another.
καὶ τὸ ἄδικον τὸ ἀντικείμενον τῷ δικαίῳ τούτῳ τὸ παρὰ τὸ ἀνάλογόν ἐστιν.
And the unjust opposed to this just is what is contrary to the proportion.
τὸ δʼ ἐν τοῖς συναλλάγμασι δίκαιον ἐστὶ μὲν ἴσον τι, καὶ τὸ ἄδικον ἄνισον, ἀλλʼ οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν ἐκείνην ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀριθμητικήν.
But the just in transactions is indeed something equal, and the unjust is unequal, but not according to that proportion, but according to the arithmetical one.
οὐδὲν γὰρ διαφέρει, εἰ ἐπιεικὴς φαῦλον ἀπεστέρησεν ἢ φαῦλος ἐπιεικῆ, οὐδʼ εἰ ἐμοίχευσεν ἐπιεικὴς ἢ φαῦλος· ἀλλὰ πρὸς τοῦ βλάβους τὴν διαφορὰν μόνον βλέπει ὁ νόμος, καὶ χρῆται ὡς ἴσοις, εἰ ὃ μὲν ἀδικεῖ ὃ δʼ ἀδικεῖται, καὶ εἰ ἔβλαψεν ὃ δὲ βέβλαπται.
For it makes no difference whether a good man has defrauded a bad man, or a bad man a good one, nor whether a good man or a bad man has committed adultery; rather, the law looks only to the difference of the injury, and treats them as equals, if one acts unjustly and the other is treated unjustly, and if one has damaged and the other is damaged.
ὥστε τὸ ἄδικον τοῦτο ἄνισον ὂν ἰσάζειν πειρᾶται ὁ δικαστής· καὶ γὰρ ὅταν ὃ μὲν πληγῇ ὃ δὲ πατάξῃ, ἢ καὶ κτείνῃ ὃ δʼ ἀποθάνῃ, διῄρηται τὸ πάθος καὶ ἡ πρᾶξις εἰς ἄνισα· ἀλλὰ πειρᾶται τῇ ζημίᾳ ἰσάζειν, ἀφαιρῶν τοῦ κέρδους.
Therefore, since this unjust is unequal, the judge tries to equalize it; for even when one has been struck and the other has struck, or one has killed and the other is dead, the suffering and the action are divided into unequal parts; but he tries by means of the penalty to equalize them, taking away from the gain.
λέγεται γὰρ ὡς ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις, κἂν εἰ μή τισιν οἰκεῖον ὄνομα εἴη, τὸ κέρδος, οἷον τῷ πατάξαντι, καὶ ἡ ζημία τῷ παθόντι· ἀλλʼ ὅταν γε μετρηθῇ τὸ πάθος, καλεῖται τὸ μὲν ζημία τὸ δὲ κέρδος.
For the term "gain" is used, to speak generally, in such cases, even if for some of them it is not the proper word, as for instance for the one who struck, and "loss" for the one who suffered; but when the suffering is measured, one is called loss and the other gain.
ὥστε τοῦ μὲν πλείονος καὶ ἐλάττονος τὸ ἴσον μέσον, τὸ δὲ κέρδος καὶ ἡ ζημία τὸ μὲν πλέον τὸ δʼ ἔλαττον ἐναντίως, τὸ μὲν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ πλέον τοῦ κακοῦ δʼ ἔλαττον κέρδος, τὸ δʼ ἐναντίον ζημία· ὧν ἦν μέσον τὸ ἴσον, ὃ λέγομεν εἶναι δίκαιον· ὥστε τὸ ἐπανορθωτικὸν δίκαιον ἂν εἴη τὸ μέσον ζημίας καὶ κέρδους.
Therefore, the equal is the mean between the more and the less, and gain and loss are respectively more and less in opposite ways (more of good and less of evil being gain, and the contrary loss); and the mean between them was the equal, which we say is just; so that the corrective just would be the mean between loss and gain.
διὸ καὶ ὅταν ἀμφισβητῶσιν, ἐπὶ τὸν δικαστὴν καταφεύγουσιν· τὸ δʼ ἐπὶ τὸν δικαστὴν ἰέναι ἰέναι ἐστὶν ἐπὶ τὸ δίκαιον· ὁ γὰρ δικαστὴς βούλεται εἶναι οἷον δίκαιον ἔμψυχον· καὶ ζητοῦσι δικαστὴν μέσον, καὶ καλοῦσιν ἔνιοι μεσιδίους, ὡς ἐὰν τοῦ μέσου τύχωσι, τοῦ δικαίου τευξόμενοι.
Therefore, when people dispute, they flee to the judge; and to go to the judge is to go to the just; for the judge wishes to be as it were a living justice; and they seek a judge who is a mean, and some call them mediators, as if, if they obtain the mean, they will obtain the just.
μέσον ἄρα τι τὸ δίκαιον, εἴπερ καὶ ὁ δικαστής.
Therefore, the just is a certain mean, since the judge indeed is so.
ὁ δὲ δικαστὴς ἐπανισοῖ, καὶ ὥσπερ γραμμῆς εἰς ἄνισα τετμημένης, ᾧ τὸ μεῖζον τμῆμα τῆς ἡμισείας ὑπερέχει, τοῦτʼ ἀφεῖλε καὶ τῷ ἐλάττονι τμήματι προσέθηκεν.
And the judge equalizes, and just as if a line had been cut into unequal parts, from that which the greater segment exceeds the half, he takes this away and adds it to the smaller segment.
ὅταν δὲ δίχα διαιρεθῇ τὸ ὅλον, τότε φασὶν ἔχειν τὸ αὑτοῦ ὅταν λάβωσι τὸ ἴσον.
And when the whole has been divided in two, then people say they have their own when they get the equal.
τὸ δʼ ἴσον μέσον ἐστὶ τῆς μείζονος καὶ ἐλάττονος κατὰ τὴν ἀριθμητικὴν ἀναλογίαν.
And the equal is the mean between the greater and the smaller according to arithmetical proportion.
διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὀνομάζεται δίκαιον, ὅτι δίχα ἐστίν, ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις εἴποι δίχαιον, καὶ ὁ δικαστὴς διχαστής.
For this reason too it is called "just" (dikaion), because it is in two parts (dicha), as if one were to say "two-parted" (dichaion), and the judge (dikastes) is a halver (dichastes).
ἐπὰν γὰρ δύο ἴσων ἀφαιρεθῇ ἀπὸ θατέρου, πρὸς θάτερον δὲ προστεθῇ, δυσὶ τούτοις ὑπερέχει θάτερον· εἰ γὰρ ἀφῃρέθη μέν, μὴ προσετέθη δέ, ἑνὶ ἂν μόνον ὑπερεῖχεν.
For when from one of two equals something is taken away, and is added to the other, the latter exceeds the former by these two; for if it had been taken away indeed, but not added, it would have exceeded by one only.
τοῦ μέσου ἄρα ἑνί, καὶ τὸ μέσον, ἀφʼ οὗ ἀφῃρέθη, ἑνί.
It exceeds the mean, therefore, by one, and the mean exceeds that from which it was taken by one.
τούτῳ ἄρα γνωριοῦμεν τί τε ἀφελεῖν δεῖ ἀπὸ τοῦ πλέον ἔχοντος, καὶ τί προσθεῖναι τῷ ἔλαττον ἔχοντι· ᾧ μὲν γὰρ τὸ μέσον ὑπερέχει, τοῦτο προσθεῖναι δεῖ τῷ ἔλαττον ἔχοντι, ᾧ δʼ ὑπερέχεται, ἀφελεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ μεγίστου.
By this, then, we shall know both what we ought to take away from him who has more, and what to add to him who has less; for by as much as the mean exceeds, this we must add to him who has less, and by as much as it is exceeded, we must take away from the greatest.
ἴσαι αἱ ἐφʼ ὧν αα ββ γγ ἀλλήλαις· ἀπὸ τῆς αα ἀφῃρήσθω τὸ αε, καὶ προσκείσθω τῇ γγ τὸ ἐφʼ ᾧ γδ, ὥστε ὅλη ἡ δγγ τῆς εα ὑπερέχει τῷ γδ καὶ τῷ γζ· τῆς ἄρα ββ τῷ γδ.
Let the lines aa, ββ, γγ be equal to one another; from aa let ae be taken away, and to γγ let γδ be added, so that the whole δγγ exceeds εα by γδ and γζ; therefore it exceeds ββ by γδ.
ἐλήλυθε δὲ τὰ ὀνόματα ταῦτα, ἥ τε ζημία καὶ τὸ κέρδος, ἐκ τῆς ἑκουσίου ἀλλαγῆς· τὸ μὲν γὰρ πλέον ἔχειν ἢ τὰ αὑτοῦ κερδαίνειν λέγεται, τὸ δʼ ἔλαττον τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ζημιοῦσθαι, οἷον ἐν τῷ ὠνεῖσθαι καὶ πωλεῖν καὶ ἐν ὅσοις ἄλλοις ἄδειαν δέδωκεν ὁ νόμος·
And these names, loss and gain, have come from voluntary exchange; for to have more than one's own is called gaining, and to have less than what one had at the beginning is to lose, as in buying and selling, and in all other transactions where the law has given security.
ὅταν δὲ μήτε πλέον μήτʼ ἔλαττον ἀλλʼ αὐτὰ τὰ διʼ αὐτῶν γένηται, τὰ αὑτῶν φασὶν ἔχειν καὶ οὔτε ζημιοῦσθαι οὔτε κερδαίνειν.
But when they get neither more nor less but the very things that come from themselves, they say they have their own and are neither losing nor gaining.
ὥστε κέρδους τινὸς καὶ ζημίας μέσον τὸ δίκαιόν ἐστι τῶν παρὰ τὸ ἑκούσιον, τὸ ἴσον ἔχειν καὶ πρότερον καὶ ὕστερον.
Therefore, the just is a certain mean of gain and loss in transactions contrary to the voluntary, namely, to have the equal both before and after.