Plutarch's Protreptics to Moral Virtue

Plutarch, Tod (T) · Living the Life Series · 23 pages

From Plutarch's Morals in the Goodwin edition, in Tod's translation, twenty-three pages, opened by a train of thoughts listing every point. The title uses protreptics in its old sense of exhortations to take up a way of life, as several other files in this library do.

The essay answers a practical question that most moral writing leaves alone: how a person can tell whether he is in fact getting better. It opens by ruling out two errors. There can be no progress in virtue while habits of wrong-doing continue unchanged; and a change from vice to virtue is not instantaneous but must be progressive — against which the Stoic opinion that all men are equally vicious is confuted, on the ground that degrees of moral improvement exist and are easily discernible. The signs are then listed. It is a good sign if efforts after improvement become more intense and constant, and if difficulties gradually disappear; if the ridicule or opposition of friends does not induce us to leave our studies. A set of counsels on study follows, aimed at those who fail to profit by philosophy: in hearing lectures or reading, attend to the things spoken rather than the words, and do not read merely to admire the style. The counsels on conduct come next — be more ready to hear than to speak, maintain an unruffled temper, cultivate presence of mind, be guided by truth rather than ostentation, exercise self-restraint and moderation, be willing to receive admonition, and when in the wrong acknowledge it willingly. The last sign is the most surprising and closes the piece: that pleasant dreams indicate proficiency in virtue.

Read the full text (PDF, 0.8 MB, 23 pages)