[287c]
for he has that sort of habit, and he would say, “Stranger from Elis, is it not by justice that the just are just?” So answer, Hippias, as though he were asking the question.Hippias
I shall answer that it is by justice.Socrates
“Then this—I mean justice—is something?”Hippias
Certainly.Socrates
“Then, too, by wisdom the wise are wise and by the good all things are good, are they not?”Hippias
Of course.Socrates
“And justice, wisdom, and so forth are something; for the just, wise, and so forth would not be such by them, if they were not something.”Hippias
To be sure, they are something.Socrates
“Then are not all beautiful things beautiful by the beautiful?”
I shall answer that it is by justice.Socrates
“Then this—I mean justice—is something?”Hippias
Certainly.Socrates
“Then, too, by wisdom the wise are wise and by the good all things are good, are they not?”Hippias
Of course.Socrates
“And justice, wisdom, and so forth are something; for the just, wise, and so forth would not be such by them, if they were not something.”Hippias
To be sure, they are something.Socrates
“Then are not all beautiful things beautiful by the beautiful?”
