While Montaigne doesn’t raise the name of Machiavelli, you can feel his influence on the accepted tactics of his age in Montaigne’s laments. He was not happy with the fact that tactics considered dishonorable in other ages had now become common, although he does temper this a bit with some examples of subterfuge to achieve victories in the supposedly more glorious past.
What I find interesting in this essay is the direct parallel Montaigne draws to athletic competitions. We can see Montaigne’s competition ethics all around us today, in drug test regimens and penalties inflicted on sports teams for spying or deflating footballs.
On a personal note, my youngest son, who has struggled with his weight for several years, recently began taking medication to help him reset his metabolism. He expressed concern to me that his friends might think any weight loss he achieves is cheating. I told him that he was under no obligation to tell them anything, and I suggested he take up some form of new exercise so he could claim it is the cause of his success. And who’s to say that the medication will be little more than a placebo that gives him confidence to pursue a new physical activity with greater confidence and vigor?
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