The Skepticism of Michel de Montaigne (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées, Volume 214)
Manuel Bermúdez Vázquez
Language: English
Pages: 172
ISBN: 3319102303
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
This book examines the work of Michel de Montaigne, considering his Essays as a whole. Building on the premise that Montaigne was an important part of the skeptical crisis but that his skepticism was not shaped by Sextus Empiricus, the book first describes the history of skepticism. It then shows that Montaigne is closer to the Academic skepticisms than to the absolute skepticism of Pyrrhonism, and that the Christian tradition left a more important mark in Montaigne’s Essays than originally thought. Through this exploration of Montaigne’s original and complex work, the book reveals Montaigne’s affinity with Socrates and Saint Augustine. It examines the powerful currents of skepticism that permeated different traditions during the Middle Ages and reveals the potential debt to Greco-Roman antiquity of these traditions. In addition, the book explores their influence in the recovery and transmission of skepticism in the early modern period. The book shows how Montaigne believed in the possibility of real knowledge, even if he despaired of achieving it in one person’s life: he was a skeptic who believed in the existence of truth and he sought that truth through the medium of the essay.
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knowledge and human inquiry. The status of “religious” claims, “scientific” claims, “moral” claims, indeed of any and all claims, came under renewed and intense scrutiny in this period. In their efforts to explore these questions, early modern thinkers looked actively at ancient sources for guidance. They were not the passive recipients of ancient wisdom, they developed their own originality. Other factors contributed to the development of early modern skepticism. The religious debates of the
praises Cicero’s philosophical works.129 In the same place he speaks of his admiration for Plato, while indicating that he dislikes the dramatic elements in the dialogues.130 However, his highest praise is reserved for others: The historians are my obverse. They are pleasant and easy; and at the same time, man in general, the knowledge of whom I seek, appears in them more alive and entire than in any other place -the diversity and truth of his inner conditions in mass and in detail, the variety
mentioned 14 times and quoted once. Plato is mentioned 24 times and quoted 4 times. Cicero is quoted 22 times and mentioned in additional 14 times in the “Apology” alone. Nine of these quotations occur in the brief discussion of ancient skepticism that appears in the middle of the “Apology”, offering Montaigne’s most extended treatment of the subject.140 Montaigne’s choice of references here potentially reveals a great deal about the nature of his skepticism. It seems that his reliance on Plato
motto with the difficulties of grasping knowledge. The history of ancient skepticism proper, however, begins in Plato’s Academy with the succession of Arcesilas (dead 242 B.C.) as head of the Academy around the year 273 B.C. Both Arcesilas’ second or middle Academy and the Third or New 1 A. A. Long and D. N. Sedley, 1987. The Hellenistic Philosophers, v. 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. xiii. 2 At least these three authors are paid more attention than the others in works as important
judgment, but in life, in practice, forces actions rendering it impossible to abstain. Sceptics follow the customs of their country because they find it comfortable; for example, they are faithful to their partner not by virtue, but to avoid the discomfort that infidelity would cause, following the law of least effort at all costs. Therefore, according to Pascal, there is a manifest contradiction in Montaigne, for although at first he declares his Catholicism, in fact he does not behave morally
