Essays (Montaigne)

Essays is the title of a book written by Michel de Montaigne that was first published in 1580. Montaigne essentially invented the literary form of essay, a short subjective treatment of a given topic, of which the book contains a large number. Essai is French for "trial" or "attempt".

Content

Montaigne's stated goal in his book is to describe man, and especially himself, with utter frankness. He finds the great variety and volatility of human nature to be its most basic features. A typical quote is "I have never seen a greater monster or miracle than myself." He describes his own poor memory, his ability to solve problems and mediate conflicts without truly getting emotionally involved, his disgust for man's pursuit of lasting fame, and his attempts to detach himself from worldly things to prepare for death.

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Montaigne is disgusted with the violent and for him barbaric conflicts between Catholics and Protestants of his time, and his writings show a pessimism and skepticism quite uncharacteristic for the Renaissance.

Related Topics:
Pessimism - Skepticism - Renaissance

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Overall, Montaigne was a strong supporter of humanism. He believed in God but declined to speculate about His nature.

Related Topics:
Humanism - God

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He exhibited a quite modern cultural relativism, recognizing that laws, morals and religions of the various cultures, while often quite different, may all be equally valid. He opposed the conquest of the New World, deploring the suffering it brought to the natives.

Related Topics:
Cultural relativism - Conquest of the New World

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Mentioning the case of Martin Guerre as an example, he believes that humans cannot attain certainty, and he rejects general and absolute statements and all dogma. His skepticism is best exposed in the long essay "An Apology for Raymond Sebond" (12th chapter of book 2) which has frequently been published separately. We cannot trust our reasoning because thoughts just occur to us: we don't truly control them. We do not have good reasons to consider ourselves superior to the animals. He is highly skeptical of confessions obtained under torture, pointing out that such confessions can be made up by the suspect just to escape the torture he is subjected to (apparently the first mention of this argument against torture). In the middle of the section that is usually titled "Man's Knowledge Cannot Make Him Good," he wrote that his motto was "What do I know?". Since the long "Apology for Raymond Sebond" is hardly ever included in publications of his essays, this expression of his main idea is generally unavailable. The essay on Sebond ostensibly defended Christianity. However, Montaigne eloquently employed so many references and quotes from classical Greek and Roman non-Christian authors, especially the atomist Lucretius, that it entirely convinces the reader to disregard all and any religious dogma.

Related Topics:
Martin Guerre - Christianity - Lucretius - Dogma

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Montaigne considered marriage necessary for the raising of children, but disliked the strong feelings of romantic love as being detrimental to freedom. One of his quotations is "Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside desperate to get out."

Related Topics:
Marriage - Romantic love

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In education, he favored concrete examples and experience over the teaching of abstract knowledge that has to be accepted uncritically.

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The remarkable modernity of thought apparent in Montaigne's essays, as well as their sustained popularity, made them the most prominent work in French philosophy until the Enlightenment. Their influence in French education and culture is still strong. The official portrait of former French president François Mitterrand pictured him facing the camera, holding an open copy of the Essays in his hands.

Related Topics:
Enlightenment - François Mitterrand

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