Montaigne's 'On The Inconsistency Of Our Actions'

History is primarily a study of people. How they lived, why they lived that way, and what impact their lives had. Montaigne is one of those characters in history that has a reach far beyond his life and the study of it by historians. Montaigne’s Essays, a completely new literary form, are an insight not only to the man but also to the world of the French Renaissance. In discussing a variety of topics from education and women to cannibalism and the human nature, Montaigne marks himself as both modern and pre-modern, influenced heavily by the Age of Reconnaissance and the Wars of Religion. Montaigne was a man ahead of his time and a read can gain much from his Essays, lessons vital to today despite that he wrote 400 years ago.

In his poem, “The Bad Glazier,” Baudelaire writes about actions taken by people that seem unwarranted. He claims that some unknown motivation forces us to do things that we know we should not. Baudelaire utilizes multiple examples of situations where people do things that they, logically, should not, such as loitering by the entrance of a building to avoid bad news or trying to set a forest on fire to see what would happen. Baudelaire’s usage of examples, whether hypothetical or not, brings to mind other instances we may have done that we should not have because our actions do not serve to improve our respective situations and stem from an illogical, impulsive place. There is no reason for the readers or examples to have taken the actions that

When discussing Montresor’s mental state, his methodical approach is a crucial indicator.  When Montresor is enacting his plan for revenge, it is apparent that he had plotted and took time to configure each of his

Common first impressions of “The Cask of Amontillado” show Montresor is insane and unreliable as a narrator. Based on popular belief, this is true. However, every piece of literature is not so black and white. A narrator from his perspective believes that they are narrating the whole truth; leaving them to think they are unbiased and reliable. Narrators speaking in the first person cannot help but have a bias because it is their point of view in which the events occurred. Though the fact remains that Montresor is a reliable and sane narrator and here is why.

On the other hand, many can understand why he would say it is more barbaric to kill a living man than to eat a dead man. Murder is unacceptable in any form, whether it is a part of religious beliefs or not. Montaigne would feel the Mayan ball game is a ritual for savages. However, the game turns the tables as far as Montaigne’s views on “simple” and “civilized” societies goes. In this case the “simple” societies are sacrificing the kings and high officials or as he would refer to them as “civilized”

Michel de Montaigne’s An Apology for Raymond Sebond and David Foster Wallace’s commencement address at Kenyon College explore the role of reason in the human world and how such reason can shape the lives of individuals. Included in their arguments on reason is the idea of perception, especially the difference in perspective from individual to individual. Montaigne provides a scathing criticism; he rejects the credibility of reason, instead championing faith and using his argument against reason to deny the possibility of achieving true knowledge of the universe. Wallace, on the other hand, presents a suggestion on how to live life and view the world. The two authors share similar beliefs, although Montaigne takes a much more critical and one-sided

Montaigne and Descartes both made use of a philosophical method that focused on the use of doubt to make discoveries about themselves and the world around them. However, they doubted different things. Descartes doubted all his previous knowledge from his senses, while Montaigne doubted that there were any absolute certainties in knowledge. Although they both began their philosophical processes by doubting, Montaigne doubting a constant static self, and Descartes doubted that anything existed at all, Descartes was able to move past that doubt to find one indubitably certainty, "I think, therefore I am".

Montresor had to understand that there would be no turning back once he set in movement the actions of

On September 13th, 1592, Michel Eyquem Montaigne drew his last breath (Montaigne xxx). However, before his death Montaigne wrote philosophical texts using skepticism to deconstruct himself and his surroundings. His most famous publication, Essays, was circulated in 1580, analyzing thoughts and ideas that society took to be givens, or unarguable truths (Montaigne xxix). Montaigne believed that nothing is completely true, so people should self-reflect on social issues to discover one’s true opinion on them, asking, ‘Que scay-je’, which translates to ‘What do I know?” (Breines). With this method, they can test societal boundaries with reason to foster open-mindedness (Sankovitch). These ideas, which were unique for the time, were culminated through

In naming his ideal world as the New World where there is no political superiority, Montaigne has made his belief known that he does not support the pre-modern idea of a political hierarchy. In the New World, the indigenous people regarded everyone in the tribe as one large family where “the old men are fathers to all others; they also thought of all men “as halves of another” and therefore each man was a part of the other (359, 362). When “three of these men,” natives of the island visited “the corruptions on this side of the ocean,” France, they questioned why there were “men full and gorged” while “their other halves were … emaciated with hunger and poverty” (362). The villagers were baffled because if all men are interconnected and equal, then why were “these needy halves [enduring] such an injustice” (362). They were also confused as to why “so many grown men, bearded, strong, and armed … should submit to obey a child,” King Charles IX, when they were more capable of leading instead (361).

Beginning with a brief description of the Brinvillier's Affair with the Marquis’s confession serves to set up the background information for the reader of the letter. After the basic facts have been establish, Sevigne progresses in chronological order with brief commentaries

I found I struggled to understand the rational behind Montaigne’s argument on how knowledge and curiosity are a sin while ignorance and simplicity is the key to ataraxia. Beginning on page 368 Montaigne states that, “Christians have a particular knowledge of the extent to which curiosity is a natural and original evil in man…it was the way by which man hurled himself into eternal damnation”, he continues by supporting his claim by acknowledging ideologically similar beliefs held by both Socrates and Plato. Curiosity, as I understand its definition, means a strong desire to gain a specific piece of knowledge. While Montaigne likely intended for curiosity to specifically address inquiry into big picture questions regarding the existence of God, and, discovering, “the parents of this universe”, how would he explain curiosity directed at the increased knowledge of God in the context of a child learning as it grows, as humans are not born with an innate faith in the scripture of God. While it is possible I am interpreting the text too literally, curiosity, even regarding the most trivial inquiry, when indulged can lead to the “big picture”

The world is a place of chaos nowadays. At every turn of a corner, there is desolation triggered from humanity's sidetracked views of what the world is about. With all this deception and superficiality, pureness in the human soul seems almost non-existent. Michel de Montaigne recognizes the essential need of this purity for the improvement of society in his Essays. Although the main topics he is focusing own are his own nature, own habits, and own opinions, he uses these personal vignettes to illustrate larger truths about man and his behaviors, his strengths and weaknesses. He subtly forces us to see the materialistic ideals that supposedly make us "happy" and dares us to see how it has tainted our minds and

You can see connections betwixt the two men’s theory’s beginning with how they addressed the savage man. Michel de Montaigne used his experience with the cannibal people of Brazil to persuade people that the only way to understand a culture is to look at it through the eyes of that culture. Montaigne was one of the first philosophers to push the theory of cultural relativism and believed people shouldn’t judge cultures

Universities often encourage students to apply their knowledge and judgment with real world situations and experiences. However, Montaigne mentions in his essay that school during his time were more focused on knowing the information