The anthropological concept that all human conduct and training are learned is examined, as is the view that all actions are based on mimicry. The resulting views that humans are creatures of conflict, rivalry, or violence and that antagonists have an implacable symmetry in their conflictual behavior are also discussed. The judicial system is described as an entity which responds to a primary need for protection and which is justified first as a mechanism of prevention and a force of negation. The judicial approach is regarded as an inappropriate source of the answer to the question of the rationale for prison education. The punitive function of the penal system and the contradictory role -- expiation and correction -- which retributive justice has always played are also described. The parallel between child psychology and an anthropological analysis is also delineated. It is concluded that penitentiary education will not find its principal justification in the judicial function, whether punitive or curative. The fundamental reason for penitentiary education is asserted to lie in the essentially irreconcilable marriage of convenience between justice and the world. Fourteen reference notes are provided.