Socrates summed up his paradoxical claims as follows. First, wickedness and wrongdoing are the greatest evils. Second, punishment is just whenever it cures this evil in us, whereas avoiding such punishment makes the evil permanent. Third, the greatest evil of all must therefore be to commit wrongdoing and yet evade punishment altogether, such that we are never cured of our wrongs. Of course, the mildest and best punishment that can improve our characters would be to have our errors exposed by philosophy, which is what Socrates dedicated his life to doing.
