Montaigne's essay "Of Cruelty" speaks more to virtue than evil. He's sorting out what it means to be virtuous. In a nutshell he says, "What I have in me of good, I have by chance." Being virtuous has to be more than just the good we do that we would have done even if it wasn't considered good. Virtuous acts are those that take a bit of struggle.
I like to think of myself as moral by choice - by the sheer strength of my willpower to resist temptation. But lately I've decided it's just my dumb luck that I tend to do things that seem virtuous at this time and place.
I like to think of myself as moral by choice - by the sheer strength of my willpower to resist temptation. But lately I've decided it's just my dumb luck that I tend to do things that seem virtuous at this time and place.
