E4P72S
Scholium — Part IV
Latin
Si jam quæratur quid si homo se perfidia a præsenti mortis periculo posset liberare, an non ratio suum esse conservandi omnino suadet ut perfidus sit? Respondebitur eodem modo quod si ratio id suadeat, suadet ergo id omnibus hominibus atque adeo ratio omnino suadet hominibus ne nisi dolo malo paciscantur vires conjungere et jura habere communia hoc est ne revera jura habeant communia, quod est absurdum.
English (Elwes 1883)
(not aligned in this witness)
Modern English
Suppose someone asks: what should a person do if they could free themselves from immediate danger of death by treachery? Would not reason entirely advise them to act treacherously to preserve their being? The answer is the same: if reason were to advise this, it would advise it for all people alike — and so reason would advise people to join forces and hold laws in common only through deception, that is, to have no laws in common at all, which is absurd.