Michel de Montaigne’s literary works and themes

For twenty years, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) spent a good part of his days writing his essays. He made no planning, organisation, or outline of the whole. Instead, he let his works grow organically and spontaneously. Eventually, he compiled his essays in volumes ready for publication. Montaigne’s literary themes have been identified by critics, not by Montaigne himself. As his essays piled up over time, he returned often to certain subjects, those that appealed to him in particular. Sometimes, he addressed exactly the same subject, but from different standpoints. Let us pass review to Montaigne’s themes and the key ideas that he conveyed in each theme. First, tolerance, which he presents as relativism or scepticism. Montaigne condemned all forms of fanaticism; he disliked oral and physical aggression, and presented extensive arguments in favour of peaceful collaboration. In his essay titled “Apology for Raymond Sebond,” he gave solid reasons explaining why the heretic Sebond had criticised mainstream Christianity. Montaigne didn’t excuse Sebond, but called for open-mindedness and tolerance. People tend to make too much noise about their deities, just to feel self-important, but fanaticism is unwise. We should ask ourselves “What do I really know?” and realise that our beliefs might rest on shaky assumptions. Montaigne recommended self-examination as the first step to wisdom. In this respect, he preached with example because, in his essays, he frequently retells anecdotes from his own life. When Montaigne wrote “I study myself more than I study any other subject,” he was exaggerating only slightly. I am sure that he had devoted far more time to reading Plutarch, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius than to self-reflection, but nonetheless, he did love to philosophise about his own life. Second, self-acceptance: Montaigne rejected perfectionism in all shapes. He did not want to endure the stress that accompanies the desire to be perfect. There is nothing wrong with pursuing ambitious goals, but we should remain realistic. Like modern psychologists do, Montaigne reminded readers once and again of their fallibility. “It is part of human nature to be inconsistent at times,” acknowledged Montaigne. It’s foolish to try to be superhuman, perfect, and omniscient because those characteristics are divine, not human. Montaigne views the consciousness of our own mortality as crucial to self-acceptance. He titled one of his essays “That to philosophise is to learn to die,” meaning that, when one grasps the idea of his own mortality, he tends to become more effective, realistic and easygoing. Instead of agonising about our own death, we should use its inevitability as motivation to make the best of our lives, and not worry about petty annoyances. Most inconveniences pale when confronted with the idea that, one day, our life will end. Montaigne also mentions cultural relativism as a powerful contributor to self-acceptance. History and geography teach us that other cultures hold in high regard what our culture doesn’t like; thus, should we worry about other people’s low opinion of our shortcomings? No, we definitely shouldn’t. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaignes-literary-works-and-themes/