Source edition
Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol I. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1888.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA (per Perseus's terms)
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This philosophical treatise contrasts atheism and superstition, two maladies arising from ignorance of the gods, and sharply criticizes the profound harm that superstition inflicts upon the soul. The author, Plutarch, points out that "fear," the most debilitating emotion that paralyzes reason, lies at the very core of superstition. While the superstitious person is tormented by nightmares during sleep, resorts to extreme self-tormenting rituals in times of adversity as divine punishment, and finds no escape even in death, the atheist, though ignorant, remains free from such pathological passion. Plutarch argues that superstition is far more impious than atheism because it views the gods as cruel and vindictive beings, and that the savage rituals of superstition actually drive people toward atheism. Ultimately, the work warns readers not to rush to the opposite extreme of atheism in their flight from superstition, but rather to pursue piety (eusebeia) as the proper golden mean.