Michel de Montaigne was a French Renaissance writer who developed the essay as a literary form and wrote some of history’s most enduring and significant articles. Michel de Montaigne was an academic who devoted his entire career to criticizing intellectual hubris. In his major opus, the Essays, he reached out as unfailingly innovative and brilliant but also as perpetually modest and eager to deflate learning’s pretentiousness. Moreover, in the Essays, Montaigne searches for truth and understanding and develops specific conclusions and visions of life. Montaigne’s wisdom lies in the idea of the search for practical meaning in life, understanding death, and learning not for the purpose of learning but for one’s life.
Montaigne was writing in the epoch of the Renaissance but disagreed with the central ideas of its philosophers. As such, classical thinkers prevalent in Montaigne’s day felt that human abilities of intellect might provide society bliss and glory that other species did not have. They believed that reason enabled people to regulate their impulses and moderate the wild cravings of their bodies. The reason was a profound, nearly divine weapon that provided them with control over the universe and themselves. Nevertheless, Montaigne was angered by this portrayal of human reason. For example, he stated that “wisdom has its excesses, and has no less need of moderation than folly” (de Montaigne, ch. 5). Hence, Montaigne claimed that people could not trust their reasoning since thoughts happen to them while they do not have control over them. As a result, he declared that humanity has no solid reason to assume itself as superior to animals.
As was mentioned, Montaigne was a brilliant scholar who despised pedantry. As such, he wanted to study practical specialties and continually chastised academics for being out of touch. Montaigne observed elitism and conceit in many areas and sought to bring people back down to earth on a regular basis. For instance. he writes: “For all that our wisdom can do alone is no great matter; the more piercing, quick, and apprehensive it is, the weaker it finds itself and is by so much more apt to mistrust itself” (de Montaigne, ch. 13). Montaigne favored wisdom to knowledge for the sake of knowledge, condemning the foolishness of encyclopedic learning in which study became an end in itself. Thus, he felt that what one did with knowledge, that is, expertise, knowledge, and life skills, was more critical.
Furthermore, life for Montaigne is an art form: it is a journey of intuition, discovery, reflection, and enjoyment of the trip. Montaigne moves to mortality, emphasizing the need to know death as a requirement for comprehending life and, hence, the art of living. Rather than succumbing to fear of death, Montaigne advocates confronting it head-on with awareness and concentration. There is nothing wrong in life for the righteous person who understands that the lack of life is not evil: knowing how to die liberates people from every servitude and restraint (de Montaigne). As a result, Montaigne’s main idea about life is reducing the fear of death through understanding and allowing oneself to be cheerful.
Finally, Montaigne implements and illustrates his concepts about self-sufficiency and freedom, as well as the value of social and intellectual interaction, throughout his writings. While concentrating on how Montaigne should live, he never instructed or even urged others to do so. Ultimately, Montaigne believed that humans are constantly restless and reeling from natural drunkenness. He argued that humans are the most agitated species since they travel from one location to another every minute. They are always on the move as they seek new chances and other interests. Humans are notorious for migrating across the universe because they mess with well-established natural processes. Furthermore, this demonstrates their lack of logic and concern for the ecosystem. As a result, he believes that humans require a resting space to help them regain themselves.
To conclude, Montaigne’s wisdom is found in seeking practical significance in life, recognizing mortality, and studying not for the sake of educating but for the sake of one’s life. Montaigne felt that the intellect and body were inextricably intertwined, making it difficult to separate oneself from emotion. His articles can also be viewed as portrayals of humanity in all its complexities. He constantly criticized ordinary people’s arrogance, conceit, and pride while maintaining the utmost regard for human decency.
Work Cited
Montaigne, Michel de. The Essays of Montaigne, Complete. Translated by Charles Cotton, Project Gutenberg, Web.