How Marcus Aurelius Balanced Justice and Sanity

They're going to hate you for your even-handedness

Balance is hard.

Even if you do it well, you’re going to piss a lot of people off.

Socrates knew it. Marcus Aurelius knew it. Most of the great thinkers of world history have concluded something of the sort.

I was mulling this over last week as I lost several paid and more free subscribers for suggesting both sides of the Gaza conflict could use some perspective.

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It’s funny, but I believe picking a side and declaring it “right” would have caused less subscriber loss. Pointing to something between the extremes alienated the dogmatic members of both sides, the ones who’d concluded that there was nothing left to learn, and no room for uncertainty or growth.

There is power and freedom in nuance and uncertainty. Socrates found it in Athens amid a civil war, but it ultimately cost him his life. The mob wants you to pick a side, and will not tolerate aloofness, probing questions, or nuance. It will make you pay for them.

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Anyone serious about living out a life philosophy confronts these sort of balancing problems — and their costs — every day.

For instance, Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic philosopher and emperor, reminds himself while journaling.

“And you can also commit injustice by doing nothing.” — Meditations, 9.5

And yet, he also writes:

“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.” — Meditations, 6.52

At first glance, these statements seem contradictory. How can he endorse having no opinion while insisting we can commit injustice by staying on the sidelines?

Marcus is dancing around landmines here, which he fleshes out elsewhere in his journal.

• The world is full of flawed people making bad decisions. Even if they’re not unthinking idiots, they’re prone to be ruled by their biases and tribal affiliations. It takes effort and discomfort to not be one of these people, and most won’t even try.

• Seeing the problems created by our fellow humans, it’s easy to become infuriated to the point where we become like the very people causing the world’s troubles. Or alternatively, we throw up out hands and withdraw completely.

As the end of his life drew near, Marcus mused:

“It doesn’t matter how good a life you’ve led. There’ll still be people standing around the bed who will welcome the sad event.” — Meditations, 10.36

So what do we do?

Marcus is clear that we must be committed to virtue and justice without letting ourselves become wrapped up in the state of the world. Good and evil can only be found in what we say and do. We might influence the world, but we never control outcomes or what people will think of our choices and character.

So there’s a balance to be struck between committed uncertainty regarding the status quo while still believing we can develop worthwhile expertise that can guide our opinions and actions.

Earlier this week I wrote about how we can become curious about anything, which is one of the most powerful parts of our cognitive self-defense suite. This curiosity must extend to both sides of any conflict.

We must, as Marcus wrote to himself:

“ Practice really hearing what people say. Do your best to get inside their minds.” — Meditations, 6.53

Perhaps a theoretical sage can find the perfect position on each matter. But we’re not that sage.

Our minds can, at best, grope after the truth while never fully apprehending it.

“It takes greatness of mind to judge great matters; otherwise they will seem to have defects that in truth belong to us. In the same way, certain objects that are perfectly straight will, when sunk in water, appear to the onlooker as bent or broken off. It is not so much what you see but how you see it that matters. When it comes to perceiving reality, our minds are in a fog.” — Seneca, Letters, 71.24

So in short, we’ll probably never be perfectly right, but we can be more right. Outcomes are outside our control and not worth getting upset about, but virtue is always within reach. It’s always an option.

That’s where our power lies, and our sanity.

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