Health is wealth: Plutarch on contemporary luxury

Abstract

Plutarch’s Platonic outlook made it natural for him not to regard wealth as an essential good. In addition his own strong commitment to ethics reinforced his conviction that if wealth is made an end in itself it will be pernicious to mental health and prevent a virtuous life. Furthermore, excessively rich people run the risk of ruining even their physical health through gormandizing, intemperate drinking and licentious living. Thus wealth is not health; on the contrary, just the opposite is true.