This is part one of a three part examination of Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans

The reason Plutarch is listed among the great authors is his ability to make his readers think about enduring human questions across academic disciplines. Plutarch is not merely a good historian but he also helps his readers think about truly significant questions of human existence. Some of the great questions of the Western intellectual tradition are – What does it mean to live a good life? In particular, what does it mean to determine right from wrong human conduct? What is the virtuous life and how does one attain it? And how do my actions affect the larger community? One of the reasons Plutarch wrote his Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans is to encourage his readers to pursue moral excellence. He wants his readers to examine the lives he is writing about and then spur them on to virtuous action. Since Plutarch does not give a clear definition of what kind of moral improvement he is discussing or what kind of virtue he is thinking of, it is helpful to explore the history in which he is writing and some of the ideas he could have been drawing from. Plutarch was writing in a particular time and place and he assumed his readers understood what he was writing about regarding moral improvement. However, because his notion of virtue is different from much of modern thought, it is helpful to re-examine Plutarch’s fundamental assumptions about moral and political behavior. By examining Plutarch’s historical and intellectual context, one will discover how individual virtue is related to the broader community and how different classical ethics are from modern American presuppositions.

Plutarch seeks the moral improvement of his readers but does not give a particularly philosophically rigorous ethical system as would Plato or Aristotle. Nonetheless, he does give some interesting and valuable ideas to think through when one is weighing ethical and moral systems. It is also important to understand the intellectual climate in which Plutarch wrote. Although there were many different ethical systems in fashion when Plutarch was writing (Epicureanism, Stoicism, and various mystery religions), his ethical ideas most closely parallel Aristotle’s teachings. Both Plutarch and Aristotle believed human beings were capable of rational ethical reflection and moral action. And they understood virtuous behavior, or its absence, to have ramifications for politics and community. Plutarch was not simply writing for the betterment of his readers, but for the improvement of the state.

Plutarch states in the opening paragraphs of his life of Pericles the moral purpose of his writing. He believes that by providing examples of good and noble deeds, his readers will be induced to similar great and good actions. In other words, he believes that by describing the noble deeds of the great men he is writing about his readers will intellectually ponder these deeds and then be prompted to act in morally excellent ways. Plutarch is a practical writer focused on human action and is convinced that moral reflection must be connected in some way to action. He is reflecting the classical idea that one’s words, thoughts, and deeds must be interconnected. Noble thought should be attached to noble action. If one’s words did not match their deeds, they were considered to be an inferior person or hypocrite. Also, Plutarch is concerned that many do not spend the kind of time on moral or ethical reflection that would be profitable to them. He believes human beings have a natural tendency for inquiry and observation but misuse these natural abilities. He explains,

…We blame those who misuse that love of inquiry and observation which nature has implanted in our souls, by expending it on objects unworthy of the attention either of their eyes or their ears, while they disregard such as are excellent in themselves, and would do them good. (121)

Plutarch is concerned that although humans have a capacity for moral reflection they may not use that natural ability for their own good. For various reasons, human beings seem to have a proclivity to either disregard genuine moral reflection or divert themselves from the great questions of life. Perhaps Plutarch is reflecting the ancient equivalent of T.S. Eliot’s poetic statement in the Four Quartets that as human beings, we distract ourselves from distraction by distraction. Often, we do not use our natural intellect for good, and we feel a need to distract ourselves from true and genuine intellectual reflection. This problem, however, seems to be inherent to the human condition itself judging from the fact that in no society do we find a majority of the population given over to important intellectual pursuits. (Philosophers and other intellectuals are often, with Socrates, in the minority.) Plutarch is merely pointing us to a very basic human element that transcends time and place. Nonetheless, if Plutarch is right in asserting that everyone has a natural capacity for intellectual inquiry and observation, then one wonders if it is possible to live an authentic or genuine existence by not pursuing intellectual and moral excellence. Plutarch shares this sentiment when he says, “He who busies himself in mean occupations produces, in the very pains he takes about things of little or no use, an evidence against himself of his negligence and indisposition to what is really good. (121)

Plutarch seeks to correct this human tendency by placing in front of his readers, great deeds that will cause moral reflection and virtuous actions. Though our senses take in everything from good to bad, he believes humans have an innate ability to discern good from bad and make value judgments. By focusing on the good, however, one may come closer to moral virtue. Plutarch writes “… It becomes a man’s duty to pursue and make after the best and choicest of everything, that he may not only employ his contemplation, but may also be improved by it” (121).

It is important to remember that ethical reflection is basic to human beings. It is part of what it means to be human. Ask anyone about any issue or news event of the day and you will find that they will immediately tell you what they find right or wrong about the situation. Moral reflection is a way of life whether we think it is or not. Plutarch is correct in pointing out that reflecting on moral excellence will aid us in exploring the deepest questions of human life and conduct.

Works cited:

Plutarch. The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. Great Books of the Western World, Vol. 13, Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1993.