Michel de Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne
	Portrait of Montaigne, 1570s
Born	28 February 1533; Château de Montaigne, Guyenne, Kingdom of France
Died	13 September 1592 (aged 59); Château de Montaigne, Guyenne, Kingdom of France
Education
Education	College of Guienne
Philosophical work
Era	Renaissance philosophy; 16th-century philosophy;
Region	Western philosophy
School	Counter-Reformation; French Renaissance; Nouveaux Pyrrhonism; Renaissance humanism; Renaissance skepticism;
Main interests	Christianity; classical studies; ethics; human nature; pedagogy; philosophy of science; poetry; political history; sociability; virtue;
Notable ideas	Common herd; Essay-writing; Montaigne's wheel argument;
Signature

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Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne (/mɒnˈteɪn/ mon-TAYN;^[4] French: [miʃɛl ekɛm də mɔ̃tɛɲ]; Middle French: [miˈʃɛl ejˈkɛm də mõnˈtaɲə]; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592^[5]), commonly known as Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the essay as a literary genre. His work is noted for its merging of casual anecdotes^[6] and autobiography with intellectual insight. Montaigne had a direct influence on numerous writers of Western literature; his Essais contain some of the most influential essays ever written.

During his lifetime, Montaigne was admired more as a statesman than as an author. The tendency in his essays to digress into anecdotes and personal ruminations was seen as detrimental to proper style, rather than as an innovation; moreover, his declaration that "I am myself the matter of my book" was viewed by his contemporaries as self-indulgent. In time, however, Montaigne came to be recognised as embodying the spirit of critical thought and open inquiry that began to emerge around that time. He is best known for his sceptical remark, "Que sçay-je ?" ("What do I know?", in Middle French; "Que sais-je ?" in modern French).

^ ^a ^b Foglia, Marc; Ferrari, Emiliano (18 August 2004). "Michel de Montaigne". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2019 ed.).
^ Robert P. Amico, The Problem of the Criterion, Rowman & Littlefield, 1995, p. 42. Primary source: Montaigne, Essais, II, 12: "Pour juger des apparences que nous recevons des subjets, il nous faudroit un instrument judicatoire; pour verifier cet instrument, il nous y faut de la demonstration; pour verifier la demonstration, un instrument : nous voilà au rouet [To judge of the appearances that we receive of subjects, we had need have a judicatorie instrument: to verifie this instrument we should have demonstration; and to approve demonstration, an instrument; thus are we ever turning round]" (transl. by Charles Cotton).
^ FT.com "Small Talk: José Saramago". "Everything I've read has influenced me in some way. Having said that, Kafka, Borges, Gogol, Montaigne, Cervantes are constant companions."
^ "Montaigne". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
^ Cite error: The named reference cne was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ His anecdotes are 'casual' only in appearance; Montaigne writes: 'Neither my anecdotes nor my quotations are always employed simply as examples, for authority, or for ornament...They often carry, off the subject under discussion, the seed of a richer and more daring matter, and they resonate obliquely with a more delicate tone,' Michel de Montaigne, Essais, Pléiade, Paris (ed. A. Thibaudet) 1937, Bk. 1, ch. 40, p. 252 (tr. Charles Rosen)

[SEP-1] Foglia, Marc; Ferrari, Emiliano (18 August 2004). "Michel de Montaigne". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2019 ed.).

[2] Robert P. Amico, The Problem of the Criterion, Rowman & Littlefield, 1995, p. 42. Primary source: Montaigne, Essais, II, 12: "Pour juger des apparences que nous recevons des subjets, il nous faudroit un instrument judicatoire; pour verifier cet instrument, il nous y faut de la demonstration; pour verifier la demonstration, un instrument : nous voilà au rouet [To judge of the appearances that we receive of subjects, we had need have a judicatorie instrument: to verifie this instrument we should have demonstration; and to approve demonstration, an instrument; thus are we ever turning round]" (transl. by Charles Cotton).

[3] FT.com "Small Talk: José Saramago". "Everything I've read has influenced me in some way. Having said that, Kafka, Borges, Gogol, Montaigne, Cervantes are constant companions."

[4] "Montaigne". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.

[cne-5] Cite error: The named reference cne was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[6] His anecdotes are 'casual' only in appearance; Montaigne writes: 'Neither my anecdotes nor my quotations are always employed simply as examples, for authority, or for ornament...They often carry, off the subject under discussion, the seed of a richer and more daring matter, and they resonate obliquely with a more delicate tone,' Michel de Montaigne, Essais, Pléiade, Paris (ed. A. Thibaudet) 1937, Bk. 1, ch. 40, p. 252 (tr. Charles Rosen)

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