Full Idea
What is prescribed by legislation is lawful, and we hold that every such ordinance is just.
Gist of Idea
We hold that every piece of legislation is just
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1129b12)
Book Reference
Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.173
A Reaction
This sounds astonishingly conservative, and doesn't seem to allow for the possibility of bad laws (even those made by tyrants, let alone those made by a misguided democracy). The basis is, presumably, society as a 'natural' institution.