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Lecture 6: Montaigne ’ s Essays

Lecture 6: Montaigne ’ s Essays. Michel de Montaigne (Feb 28, 1533 – Sept 13, 1592). born to a wealthy family near Bordeaux, France unusual education from youth 1561- ‘ 63  served in the court of Charles IX greatly affected by deaths of best friend (1563) and father (1568)

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Lecture 6: Montaigne ’ s Essays

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  1. Lecture 6: Montaigne’s Essays

  2. Michel de Montaigne(Feb 28, 1533 – Sept 13, 1592) • born to a wealthy family near Bordeaux, France • unusual education from youth • 1561- ‘63  served in the court of Charles IX • greatly affected by deaths of best friend (1563) and father (1568) • 1571  retired from public life • 1580  published Essays • 1581  elected mayor of Bordeaux • dedicated Catholic but maintained peace with Protestants throughout his life

  3. French Wars of Religion (1562-1598) • 8 incidences of war total between French Catholics vs Protestants (Huguenots) • 1520 – Lutheranism introduced in France • 1559 – first organized Calivinist churches • 1559 – death of king creates power vacuum; Catholic House of Guise vies with Protestant House of Bourbon for power over throne • Aug 24, 1572 – St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre; 5000 Huguenots killed • 1593 – Henry of Navarre converts to Catholicism to be crowned king • April 13, 1598 – Henry IV declares Edict of Nantes finally recognizing Protestant rights Francois Dubois, “St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacare”

  4. Philosophical Skepticism • rebirth of scepticism brought about by: • rejection of Scholastic belief of certain knowledge • Protestant rejection of Church authority • Catholic vs Protestant debate over dominion of Christian truth • SextusEmpiricus • suspense of judgment vs dogmatism • probability over factuality • questioning of senses

  5. The Four Humors

  6. Essays as Self-Portrait “Essays” from the French word for “attempts” – usually referring to the exercises schoolboys wrote when learning language. “Essay” is actually also closer to English word “assay” – a quantitative and qualitative test. What is Montaigne testing?

  7. “On Education” • Teacher as guide (43) and no violence or punishment (60) • Education should become a part of the student (43) • NO book-learning (45) • Study abroad! (46) • Knowledge defined by application (45) • Educate body & mind (46,59) • Flexibleness NOT stubbornness (48) • Learning history vs judging history (49) • Transformative education (52) • Love of philosophy  virtue  joy (54-55) • things vs words (67) or • Philologous vs logophilous (68) • ”Learning must not only lodge with us: we must marry her” (73)

  8. “On the Cannibals” & “On Coaches” • p.86  What is savage? What is civilized? • cultural relativism  the ability to view the beliefs and customs of other peoples within the context of their culture rather than one's own • primitivism  The belief that primitive peoples were nobler and less flawed than civilized peoples because they had not been subjected to the tainting influence of society. • p. 345  Montaigne’s opinion of “The Requirement” • p. 349 – 350  coaches of the Old World vs the coaches of the New World

  9. “On the Lame” • p352 - knowledge belongs to God • p353 – truth and falsehood look alike • p354 – communication damages truth • p356 – the only thing you know is that you do not know anything • p358 – against capital punishment • p362 – the story of the lame proves that our imagination can trick us into thinking we know truth from experience

  10. Montaigne’s Contradiction? Skepticism Humility “We must either totally submit to the authority of our ecclesiastical authority or else totally release ourselves from it. It is not for us to decide what degree of obedience we owe to it.” (78) “ I am of Saint Augustine’s opinion, that in matters difficult to verify and perilous to believe, it is better to incline towards doubt than certainty.” (359)

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