Rabelais Vs Gargantruels

When discussing one specific kind of authority—children’s tutor, he states “same teaching and same degree of guidance for them all” (The Essays: A Selection, Montaigne, p.43). A tutor, who is ignorant of his students’ actual needs and provides uniform guidance according to tutors’ mind only, is in some degree making the same mistake as Pantagruel does previously; they both ignores the needs of people they are helping, and tries to force others according to their own mind and preconception. However, unlike Gargantua and Pantagruel, which merely raises the problem of the authority and does nothing about it, Montaigne goes one more step forward, by providing solution to the problem above. In response to the problem of “same guidance for all”, Montaigne suggests “It is good to make him trot in front of his tutor in order to judge his paces and to judge how far down the tutor needs to go to adapt himself to his ability.”(The Essays: A Selection, Montaigne, p.43). If Pantagruel were to accept the advice of Montaigne, instead of forcing Panurge to believe him – just like simply forcing one to trot at certain speed without considering one’s actual ability, he could have listened to Panurge more patiently and answered the question of marriage basing on logic, reasoning and Panurge’s personality, but not on

Thus, stating that a human has desire not only to attain a flourishing life, but also to appreciate what surrounds them daily. He believes that every person has the craving for knowledge, but that each can only learn a limited amount about Nature and how it operates. Montaigne later says, “In her [Nature] promises and threats there is great uncertainty, variability and obscurity,” (Montaigne 1243). Knowledge is so limited to each individual because Nature is constantly changing; changing what it has to offer at any given time. It is not right or fair to live a life in which no material items are cherished or respected. It is necessary to acknowledge that objects such as wealth, power, and social status allow for a more comfortable life. However, like Boethius, Montaigne also accepts that these material possessions are only temporary and will not be with the one forever. That is why they need to be recognized while such Fortunes exist, but one should not allow oneself to become attached or dependent upon such items. He contradicts Plato’s platform stating, “I hate being told to have our minds above the clouds while our bodies are at the dinner-table,” (Montaigne 1257-1258). Plato, like Socrates, believes in only focusing on what cannot be taken from an individual. Montaigne is beginning to break free of the mold previously set by other philosophers and does not accept their way of thinking. Although he does believe that societies “goods” should not take over one’s life it is crucial to accept them to live the “good life.” Montaigne believes that all things in life were placed by Nature gives all that is needed. Therefore, to ignore temporary material possessions is nothing more than to break Nature’s laws. (Montaigne

In chapter six of “The Social Animal”, David Brooks, through the story of Harold and his teacher, offers us something of a model regarding how we, as students, might effectively study/learn/attain expertise in a given field. Specifically, Brooks argues that students learn best when given time to master new information. As Harold works on this paper, his teacher sets up a guideline for him to follow to eventually achieve the final product, a paper. He first collects resources and reads them, he then rereads them while keeping a writing journal, and then lastly he integrates what he read with his life’s experiences. This process occurs over a large amount of time. As the author himself puts it when learning new material, “there should be a long period of gestation, as [the student] looks at the material in different ways and in different moods.

Not only does Montaigne give instructions on how to educate children, he also says what should not be a part of their education. The most abhorrent practice in contemporary education, for Montaigne, was the physical punishment of students. Montaigne laments, “Instead of being invited to study, children are now confronted with terror and cruelty. Away with violence and compulsion! There is nothing, in my opinion, that is so debasing and stupefying to a noble nature.” (Montaigne, p. 72). Being against physical punishment puts him ahead of his time and shows Montaigne’s character as a gentle soul, compassionate for his fellow human being.

With each philosopher comes a different theory and approach to life, but a common thread amongst a great many of them is this tone, this speaking with certainness and authority. For instance, in the famous quote by Rene Descartes, “I think, therefore I am,” comes with it a type of assertiveness. Montaigne’s approach, however, comes in contrary to Descartes. Rather than coming across as definite and without doubt, Montaigne speaks very modestly and even query. In his “Of the Inconstancy of Our Actions,” Montaigne states, “I have nothing to say of myself entirely, simply, and solidly without mixture and confusion” (4-5). So, rather than saying, “I think, therefore I am,” Montaigne seems to first ask, “What is it that I think, why do I think that, and how does this get back to me?” all while trying to put the “pieces” of his character together. Also, the simple fact remains that one cannot heighten their image or affirm their stature without first fully knowing what their image or stature is. And Montaigne seems rather uneasy to make such announcements. Rather than having explanation marks, Montaigne would hang questions for nearly every statement he would make; he did not feel he was capable of developing a grand plan or theory behind things, and this modesty can be found in the initial purpose of his

There were certain aspects of learning that he emphasized more than the others. Not only did he focus on major works that the people should know but also on “…writing in verse and prose…” (3) Castiglione had the ideal image in his mind of exactly what people needed to be and the way they should act. When he said this, it was greatly respected because of his writing of his well-known conduct book. However, people began to veer away from this ideal of a needed education; it became a major change for society. Later on, in the Letter to the Parlement of Dijon concerning the reopening of a French Jesuit school, it was explicitly said that all men do not need an education. Some men need to do work that is not based off of education; they need to do the basics that make society properly function. “The study of literature is appropriate only to a small minority of men.” This statement explicitly says that an education is not for everyone, boldly going against Castiglione. (11) This was a bold statement to make, because it showed a drastic change in people’s point of view of a proper man. Along with saying not all people needed to be educated, there was also the vast criticism of the school system and the way it was teaching. The concepts being learned in school needed to be more readily applied into real life situations, and this did not seem to be the true goal. (8)

The lessons the world offers and the ones you take away from a classroom are very much related. They both shape you in the best way possible but it is up to you retain and take out of it. There is a chance to learn everywhere you go it is up to you to take

This learning matters because if you don’t take the time to really get to know them, then you won’t ever give them a fair chance to collaborate with you. What I mean by this is that if you meet someone for the first time and they are having a bad day, you might perceive them as being a very grumpy, mean person. This wouldn’t be giving them a fair chance because, in reality, they are a very kind person that has just been having a bad day. So this learning matters because in order to give someone a fair chance before getting preconceived about

He uses figurative language to persuade his audience to believe that the problem-posing education method is better and more effective. Freire describes the “banking” concept of education as the “students are turned into “containers”, into “receptacles”, to be “filled” by the teacher. The more completely she fills the receptacles, the better the teacher is”. The teacher turns students into banks in which information is deposited in them. The teacher knows everything and the students know nothing. Freire starts his essay off by using this negative language to explain the “banking” concept of education to his audience. He wrote several paragraphs of how negative this concept is before he explained how great the problem-posing education method is. This helped him persuade his audience to think that the “banking” concept of education was bad before the audience had a chance to learn what the other method

The idea Montaigne illustrated in this essay was that people have a tendency to think that their established beliefs and practices are superior to those of other people. He argued that everyone holds their own values and beliefs based on their experiences and perspectives and that there is no right or wrong way to do things. Montaigne also used another example to demonstrate his ideas in his essay “Of Experience.” He briefly used medicine and illness to portray that sickness will come to us all at different times and in various forms, but we must use our own experiences to gain knowledge and learn from our specific encounters since no two people are

For example, if someone was not taught how to do simple addition, how will they be able to subtract, multiply, or divide without becoming annoyed and giving up? This quote describes that people need a base of information in order to grow and learn more. In Chesterton’s

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

Descartes takes this idea and applies it to book learning, and he concludes that book-learning is “composed and enlarged little by little from the opinions of many different persons.” However, he believes that book-learning “does not draw nearly as close to the truth as the simple reasonings that a man of good sense can naturally make about the things he encounters.” Descartes believes that one should trust in their reason rather than in their knowledge which has been collected from the opinions of others.

Value of acquiring knowledge Cicero said, “What you know is of no use, what you do not know does great harm.” Montaigne would and Rabelais would agree with Cicero’s quote. In their views on education through Montaigne’s The Essays, and Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel, we would be able to tell how the similarities of their ideas on acquiring knowledge in students’ perspectives. Montaigne’s major argument on education was that as a student, he/she would have to learn and think in a positive and active attitude, to understand but not memorize, and came up with his/her own arguments; similarly, Rebelais suggested the importance of learning efficiently were based on interest and incentives, and to appreciate materials in this world outside

There are people who are wise in the eyes of others but have a limited understanding. Such people are only clever or smart, not absolutely intelligent, much less really wise. Many of those that have “great personalities” are guarded and not exceptionally bright. It is fascinating how sharp mediocrities compose their action to the top in many forms of life, particularly in education and their personal principles, values and beliefs. I would relate the present in the years of my education (this paragraph only). In some prestigious universities, educators were not as serious or challenging as my grade school or high school teachers’ had been. Indeed, they taught us about the topic of our lessons every day, they exert their effort in teaching us just to understand it but sometimes, it lacks substance; the application in the outside world, the reality, the rootedness of it and how we would engage the lessons we have encountered throughout the years of education. Some days, we went home learning absolutely nothing about anything. [Don’t get me wrong, these are only for the educators who doesn’t value their teaching and expect nothing from the students.]