Source edition
Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol 3. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1891.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA (per Perseus's terms)
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This philosophical essay investigates whether the true cause of human unhappiness lies within vice or fortune. The work begins by criticizing the busy and stressful life of the court, contrasting it with the value of a quiet and safe life in obscurity. It then argues that unlike tyrants who rely on external instruments to inflict pain, vice directly invades and shatters the human soul, making the rule of reason impossible. In the latter part, the author introduces an allegorical debate between Fortune and Vice over a contract to construct a miserable life. Ultimately, the essay concludes that external misfortunes are only effective when they exploit a pre-existing internal vice, establishing that vice itself is the self-sufficient architect of unhappiness.