《道德情操论·卷二·论功劳与过失·二之三·论这种天性构造的效用》第9节
For it well deserves to be taken notice of, that we are so far from imagining that injustice ought to be punished in this life, merely on account of the order of society, which cannot otherwise be maintained, that Nature teaches us to hope, and religion, we suppose, authorises us to expect, that it will be punished, even in a life to come. Our sense of its ill desert pursues it, if I may say so, even beyond the grave, though the example of its punishment there cannot serve to deter the rest of mankind, who see it not, who know it not, from being guilty of the like practices here. The justice of God, however, we think, still requires, that he should hereafter avenge the injuries of the widow and the fatherless, who are here so often insulted with impunity. In every religion, and in every superstition that the world has ever beheld, accordingly, there has been a Tartarus as well as an Elysium; a place provided for the punishment of the wicked, as well as one for the reward of the just.
注释摘要
斯密在这一段里推进了一个相当大胆的论证：我们要求惩罚不义，并不仅仅是为了维持社会秩序。他要把读者的目光从“惩罚的社会效用”那里挪开，转向一个更根本的心理事实——我们内心深处觉得，作恶者就该受罚，哪怕这种惩罚对活着的人毫无威慑作用。 他先做了一个明确的否定。我们远不是在设想，惩罚只能以维持社会秩序为理由。如果这个功利考虑是唯一的理由，那么死后的惩罚就说不通了…