Consistency is the very first thing we expect from authentic individuals, that is, consistency between their speech and feats. Nonetheless, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) knew that few thinkers in history have deployed a tight consistency.
Even in Socrates (469-399 BC) and Plato (427-347 BC), we can detect inconsistencies. Later, in the decades after Aristotle (384-322 BC), the culture declined to such an extent that the so-called philosophers would not even claim to be consistent.
Montaigne method for remaining authentic (consistent) was to quit his public office, retire to live in a farmhouse, and adopt a semi-ascetic lifestyle.
On the one hand, he steered away from all grandstanding or virtue signalling. On the other hand, he embraced an effaced, modest, semi-solitary lifestyle. Those two factors made it hard for anyone to criticise Montaigne for “lack of authenticity.”
In this respect, Montaigne wrote an essay that constitutes a lifestyle manifesto. I am referring to the essay titled “That We Are to Avoid Pleasures Even at the Expense of Enjoyment.”
“That We Are to Avoid Pleasures Even at the Expense of Life”
Note that I am not using the old translation “That We Are to Avoid Pleasures Even at the Expense of Life” because it makes no sense in contemporary English.
Nowadays, when someone says “at the expense of life,” we would understand “death” or “suicide,” but those do not rhyme with Montaigne’s original intent.
I am describing Montaigne’s rural lifestyle as “semi-ascetic” by comparison to religious ascetics from the Middle Ages. His modest, inexpensive way of life doesn’t mean that he ever went hungry or lacked basic comforts.
Even if Montaigne devoted vast efforts to doing research in history and philosophy, he could rely on the steady income that his farm was producing. He didn’t earn enough to increase his domains, but had enough spare cash to buy some new volumes for his library each year.
In his essay “That We Are to Avoid Pleasures Even at the Expense of Enjoyment,” Montaigne points out the dangers of overindulgence, especially through excesses in eating, alcohol consumption, and power lust.
First, overindulgence jeopardises our health, for instance by making us obese or drunk. Second, it deadens our innate sense of proportion by pushing us into a slippery slope. Ethical decay tends to go hand in hand with overindulgence.
Real life and Montaigne’s literary authenticity
Montaigne points to the Roman Emperor Nero (37-68 AD), who went from overindulgence to tyranny, from moral balance to raving lunacy, from self-confidence to paranoia. The same applies to Caligula (12-41 AD), who had preceded Nero at the Roman imperial throne.
Montaigne is remarkably authentic in recognising how hard it is to retain self-control, especially for wealthy and powerful people. His semi-asceticism was meant to keep him away from temptation.
His chosen semi-asceticism has the advantage of making it difficult to sin; for instance, people who drink in excess should avoid too much socialising because, in a social gathering, they will find it hard to resist the temptation to drink alcohol.
Montaigne is right to advise preventive self-restraint. If you cannot command your soul fully in the face of temptation, it is more practical to avoid the temptation altogether. Don’t give it a chance at all.
That’s why recovering alcoholics do not want to taste a drop of wine, beer or whiskey. They want to keep far away from the slippery slope. They know themselves well enough to avoid all temptations to fall back into alcoholism.
Hedonism and Montaigne’s literary authenticity
Montaigne is also right in acknowledging that prohibitions alone don’t work. Aristotle (384-322 BC) in his “Nicomachean Ethics” had already noted that virtue requires focused action. It is not enough to avoid overindulgence.
For this reason, Montaigne was filling his semi-ascetic life with his literary work, running his farm, educating his children and many other productive activities.
Montaigne had adopted the ideas of Epicurus (341-270 BC), who had identified a moderate hedonism the best way of life. It is a lifestyle that emphasises intellectual pleasures, such as the enjoyment derived from friendship and the pursuit of wisdom.
To which extent is Montaigne’s lifestyle and literary output truly authentic? I would rate it high in terms of consistency, in particular during the first decade of Montaigne’s retirement in his farmhouse.
Montaigne’s essay “That We Are to Avoid Pleasures Even at the Expense of Enjoyment” is full of praise for moderation in one’s lifestyle. His modest demands show in his willingness to categorise as “pleasure” any situation in which we are “free of pain.”
I fully agree with Montaigne’s observation that we tend to be “more concerned about immediate pleasures than about our safety tomorrow,” and that we should train ourselves to think more realistically and prudently.
Authenticity calls for consistency, which is a lifetime goal. I can only admire Montaigne’s steadiness in keeping the semi-ascetic lifestyle that enabled him to produce a valuable literary output.
If you are interested in putting rational ideas into practice in all kind of situations here and now, I recommend you my book titled “Sequentiality: The amazing power of finding the right sequence of steps.”