Montaigne - Midterm presentation. Colton Williams, Joslyn Parker, Gavin Dunn

Montaigne's Early life:

Michel de Montaigne was a 16th century French philosopher. He was born Feb 28, 1533 in a small town just outside of Bordeaux. Soon after Montaigne’s birth, he was sent to live with a humble family in a nearby village for 3 years. Montaigne’s father wanted him to understand the common folk and drink their breastmilk because he would one day inherit the estate and he needed to be comfortable with his charges. So, “Instead of bringing a nurse to the baby, he sent the baby to a nurse”… for 3 years.


When finally brought home to the Chateau, Montaigne’s father hired a Latin instructor in order to raise him as a native Latin speaker. No one in the house hold was allowed to speak to Montaigne unless they were speaking in Latin. (everyone spoke French) This was quite difficult as no one but the instructor knew any Latin, but Montaigne’s parents as well as the servants learned enough to get by. Montaigne’s father also thought that a child should never be abruptly woken from sleep, so he hired a lute to player to play at this bedside each morning until he awoke. At 6 years old, Montaigne was taken from his home and sent to a school in Bordeaux. (he quickly surpassed the other students due to his exceptional Latin skills, but was a bit alienated since he didn’t know French) According to Montaigne, as the years passed, he ended up knowing less Latin than when he arrived due to making friends. He stayed at the school until 1548.


Montaigne’s first job in the courts was not in Bordeaux, it was in a nearby town. He joined it 1554 and in 1557 he went on to work for the courts in Bordeaux. Montaigne worked for the Bordeaux parlement for 13 years. In February 1571 he left parlement to care for his estate, which was left to him when his father passed in 1568.


Montaigne was afraid of death. In his twenties he spent a lot of time reading classical Philosophers, who never tired of talking about death. According to Cicero.. “To philosophize is to learn how to die.” When he was 30 (1563) his best friend Etienne de La Boetie died from the plague, when he was 35 (1568) his father died, and spring of the following year (1569) his brother died in a sporting accident. All of this put together made him fear death. Montaigne’s favorite sages, the Stoics, said “That if you ran through the images of your death often enough it could never catch you by surprise.” But this did not console his fears.





Sometime between late 1569 or early 1570, Montaigne nearly met his death. He was out riding with friends, and one of them accidentally (his horse charged) ran into Montaigne, knocking him off his horse. He suffered a serious blow to the head and chest and was throwing up blood. His friends carried him back to his estate. As he lay there, he felt tranquil. As if he were drifting off to sleep and he took pleasure in the experience. Later when we came to, his friends tell him that he was thrashing about and trying to rip off his doublet. He was no longer afraid of death.

Montaigne's Late life and Travels:

Montaigne sought to travel the European landscape in search of cultural differences. He traveled from Paris through the Holy Roman Empire to various Italian, Polish, and German cities to learn of the customs beyond those of the French. He was primarily interested in churches and religious activities of Germany and Italy. Whilst staying in Rome, Montaigne earned his citizenship after a short five-month stay in Rome due to his zealousness of being a cosmopolitan. During these travels, he noted persisting problems with kidney stones. He wrote of the intense pain it caused him.


Montaigne returned to France after traveling for approximately fifteen months. He eventually became the Mayor of Bordeaux, France due to his same zealous attitude as a cosmopolitan. He served a total of fours in office, being reelected after his first term in 1583. It was during his time in office that Montaigne published a corrected and refined version of his Essays. Throughout this time of authority, he wrote of political and religious struggles that caused him strife and fear.


As Montaigne’s writings gained momentum in France, his style of writing and motivation to do so inspired further writers. Writers from beyond Montaigne’s time cite a correlation between Montaigne’s writing and Shakespeare’s. A specific excerpt is cited as a direct inspiration by the name of “Gonzalo,” by Shakespeare, respectively.


Age was worn on Montaigne’s sleeve, as he grew older. He had amassed a name for himself by his writings. His later writings were noted to contain more allusions to religious philosophy along with his daily activities. However, Montaigne felt he was losing touch as his writings gained popularity and respect. He wrote how he felt he could not continue writing consistently due to the commercial success of his Essays.


By 1588, Montaigne had successfully finished another edition of his Essays. During the same year, a woman by the name Marie le Jars became his editor and publicist. She was heavily gravitated toward Montaigne because of his “fatherly figure” he acted as towards her. He wrote much more about animals now than ever. In specific, Montaigne wrote about traits animals and humans shared with one another. This was one of his works that motivated the Pyrrhonian Skepticism that later readers analyzed.


Montaigne fell into unconsciousness on an unknown date between 1588-1590. In this time, he confirmed a thought he had been contemplating for his entire life: that nature does everything for you. Montaigne now viewed death as more open and friendly as he grew old and frail. His daily writings were more reflective now, pointing to the feeling of passing between life and death.





September of 1592, Montaigne wrote of a severe attack from a kidney stone. This would be the final time he would have one, as this somehow led to an inflammation of his throat. Three days after the initial infection, Montaigne was limited to writing from his bed and using writing as his primary means of communication. He wrote his final wishes and testament in the following days. He also noted a final religious inspiration in his near death state of mind, writing of a final mass he held in his bedroom. Montaigne finally passed away only a couple days after this mass. It is speculated that the cause was a stroke due to lack of oxygen or asphyxiation. After his death, later writers studied Montaigne’s works and deliberated the answer to his question “how to live?” An answer derived from one writer by the name Virginia Woolf suggests ‘life should be an aim unto itself, a purpose unto itself’.

Montaigne and his Writings through History:

Montaigne was a skeptic, like Pyrrho, and its reflected in his writing in how he is constantly contradicting himself, sometimes changing his mind on a few sentences after stating something, saying "my footing is so unsteady and so insecure, I find it so vacillating and ready to slip, and my sight is so unreliable, that on an empty stomach i feel myself to be another man." This is, often considered to be part of his charm, Montaigne celebrated human fallibility, and his writings showcases the human condition, unstable, unsure, ever-changing, and most importantly real. Bakewell writes that for Montaigne, "philosophy lives in individual, fallible humans; therefore, it is riddled with uncertainty." It's due to this style of writing, that readers of his work "Essays" still see themselves in his writing, which has lead to a number of different people and groups adopting his ideas for their own causes, and in a sense creating a "new Montaigne" every time they do so.

The first of these different versions of Montaigne that appear through out history comes about in and shortly after his lifetime, where he and his works were celebrated by the church. His essays were often assigned to heretics, due to the message it portrayed that humans are fragile, and cant trust their own perceptions, which played well into the dogma of the church.

The second iteration of Montaigne comes after his death, during the time of Rene Descartes and Pascal, two of his biggest critics. The two changed the view of his work dramatically, having it go from being recommended by the church to being put on the list of forbidden text. In their writings Descartes and Pascal criticize Montaigne's celebration of human fallibility, claiming that it is degrading. In a time where people felt a growing need to defend human dignity, Montaigne's celebration of fault posed a major threat to people's securities. Though, despite their hatred of him, Pascal and Descartes couldn't help from seeing themselves in Montaigne as numerous people throughout history have. Pascal goes as far as to write "It is not in Montaigne, but in myself, that i find everything is see here" in reference to Montaigne's essays.

A later group, the Libertines, would latch onto Montaigne's writings due to the question he always asked, how should one live. Libertine's focused on Montaigne's ideas of "how to live", and used it a a guide on how to be good people, and believe Montaigne's writings held the key to their question.

In his later writings Montaigne became fascinated with the native groups of the Americas. He admired their self sufficiency, and especially their freedom from societal pressures. He emulated this freedom in his own life to an extent, leaving the business of his estate to his wife and servants and focusing primarily on what he wanted to do, writing and living life. Montaigne's fascination with indigenous American groups would later be latched onto by 18th century Germans, specifically two of his songs known as the "cannibal songs". The Germans view Montaigne's criticism of societal pressures as underlying ideas of revolution, and thus Montaigne's writings spawned yet another version of himself.

Overall, Montaigne's writings have been adopted by a number of very different groups and people, and it speaks to the reliability that his writing style offers; where everyone, even those who despise him, are able to see themselves in his works.

Quiz Questions:

1. What language did Montaigne’s father want him to speak natively?

2. What was Montaigne’s reasoning for loving his best friend, La Boetie?

3. Who said, “To Philosophize is to learn how to die?”

4. What was Montaigne’s answer to the question “How to live?”

5. How long a term did Montaigne serve as Mayor of Bordeaux?

6. What piece by Shakespeare were Montaigne’s writing interpreted to be influenced by?

Discussion Questions:

Montaigne, in his essay "Apologia", suggest that he believes Animals have a similar sentience to Humans, Do you agree with statement or do you align more with Descartes's view that animals are on par with machines.

In his writings Montaigne says that he finds comfort in his "insignificance" in the universe, and he finds the largeness of it comforting. Do you agree with this sentiment or do you align more with Pascal who argues that the largeness of the universe and the unknown elements of it are frightening.