《道德情操论·卷二·论功劳与过失·二之一·正义与仁慈的比较》第5节
As every man doth, so shall it be done to him, and retaliation seems to be the great law which is dictated to us by Nature. Beneficence and generosity we think due to the generous and beneficent. Those whose hearts never open to the feelings of humanity, should, we think, be shut out in the same manner, from the affections of all their fellow-creatures, and be allowed to live in the midst of society, as in a great desert where there is nobody to care for them, or to inquire after them. The violator of the laws of justice ought to be made to feel himself that evil which he has done to another; and since no regard to the sufferings of his brethren is capable of restraining him, he ought to be over-awed by the fear of his own. The man who is barely innocent, who only observes the laws of justice with regard to others, and merely abstains from hurting his neighbours, can merit only that his neighbours in their turn should respect his innocence, and that the same laws should be religiously observed with regard to him.
注释摘要
斯密在这里做了一个收束性的总结，把前面关于仁慈与正义的区分提纯为一套对称的、近乎格言式的道德逻辑。这几句的核心原则可以概括为：社会道德回应遵循着一种与行动性质相称的对称结构，自然启示我们以同样的方式回报他人。 首句就定下了调子。那个近似“以牙还牙”的表述，不是斯密在倡导粗暴报复，而是他所观察到的、深植于人类情感机制中的一条自然法则。这里的关键词是 reta…