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Ancient & Modern

Peter Jones

Wednesday, 2nd January 2008

Ancient Greeks were equally aware of the problem. The 5th-century bc Greek intellectual Critias speculated that religion was invented to solve it. He makes a character in a play say: ‘Then, when the laws prevented men from open violence, but they continued to act violently in secret, I believe that a shrewd and subtle man invented for men the fear of the gods. His aim was that there might be something to frighten the wicked even if they acted, spoke or thought in secret. For this reason he introduced the conception of divinity. There is, he said, a spirit enjoying endless life, hearing and seeing with his mind, exceedingly wise and all-observing, bearer of a divine nature. He will hear everything spoken among men and can see everything that is done. If you are silently plotting evil, it will not be hidden from the gods, so clever are they. With this story he presented the most seductive of teachings, concealing the truth with lying words.... So, I think, first of all, did someone persuade men to believe that there exists a race of gods.’

Not a thesis that even the most worldly theologian would uphold, I imagine, but still one that makes a point of central importance. You can legislate till you are blue in the face, but if the law-breaker knows she can get away with it, you threaten the very heart of civil society.

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Dominique Evans

January 7th, 2008 3:19am

I once read a theory that Rome was brought down by excessive law; something about the ratio of lawyers to citizens. The idea has remained with me ever since, I think there is truth in it. Simplicity is the thing. "Do not steal". Covers a huge amount of ground. Most importantly do not steal someone else's happiness (providing they are not getting it my stealing from someone else in turn).

A child of our time

From the economic and psychological bedlam of the global downturn has emerged a particularly dangerous false dichotomy: namely, that there is somehow a choice for ministers over the next few years between economic reconstruction and the repair of Britain’s broken society, and that the government (whether Labour or Conservative) must prioritise the former at the expense of the latter.

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The daughter and I spent the last few days before the American election in Arizona.

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Fraser Nelson reviews the week in politics

The Spectator's Notes

Charles Moore

‘A money-financed tax cut is essentially equivalent to Milton Friedman’s famous “helicopter drop” of money.’ So said Ben Bernanke, now the chairman of the Fed, in a speech about how to ward off the ‘extremely small’ chance of deflation, which he delivered in 2002.