Life would be much easier if we could reduce ethics to just one concept. Would it not be great if we could make decisions and implementation plans that always hit the target? Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) took upon himself the task of reducing ethics to one concept, and he succeeded pretty well. Montaigne believed that self-discipline constitutes the pillar that sustains ethics, success and personal effectiveness. In most cases, people know what they should be doing, but they fail to do it because they lack self-discipline. Vices and crimes are often the result of poor self-discipline, theorised Montaigne. Even when people are aware of the risks of unethical behaviour, they will still go ahead with it because they want to avoid putting in the effort of doing things right. Montaigne knew what he was talking about because, in his own life, he displayed a remarkable self-discipline. He devoted two decades to writing his essays with occasional interruptions due to health problems, travel, or discharging public duties. In his essay “On Cruelty,” Montaigne notes how easy it is, after ascending to a position of power, to lose one’s prudence and self-discipline, and carry out all sorts of abuses, from which cruelty constitutes the most odious example. Montaigne presents as an illustration the Roman Emperor Nero, (37-68 AD), who became a monster after ascending to the throne, carrying out countless tyrannical abuses, deploying pointless violence, and engaging in extreme cruelty. Before Nero ascended to the imperial throne, his poor self-discipline was publicly known, but few people had predicted such a terrible outcome. Montaigne recounts that the Stoic philosopher Seneca (4-65 AD) had contributed to Nero’s education, but failed to obtain the desired result. Seneca had failed to steer Nero in the right direction. Seneca had feared that Nero would turn into a wild beast if left to his own devices, but failed to correct the issue. He wrote an essay titled “On Clemency,” addressed to Nero, arguing that a ruler would gain popularity if he showed clemency, but Nero simply ignored Seneca’s recommendations. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaigne-and-self-discipline/

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