Montaigne – of Cannibals Montaigne Tone Essay on Of the Cannibals Montaigne On Solitude Michel de Montaigne Essay

1. Montaigne – of Cannibals
Acceptance and understanding into a persons society is one of the major goals that people strive to
achieve. There is a natural tendency for the individual to be compelled to join the majority. Many
times, however, a person will change themselves to fit into the group instead of having the group
change itself for the person. This forces a person to take action, form opinions or adopt customs that
do not reflect their own beliefs. Montaigne addresses the differences between two distinctly
different forms of society in his essay Of Cannibals. Montaigne's comparison between the recently
discovered aborigines of the new world and his European society compels a person to reconsider
what an ideal society should be. Should a natural state be the...show more content...
The absence of vices also means an absence of a more comfortable living standard. A more
comfortable living standard creates more vices. I believe the inhabitants of the new world could
live out their lifestyle because they were ignorant to their own possibilities. However, these
possibilities were discovered and utilized by the Europeans. With more knowledge and
understanding the basic society that Europe once belonged to grew into the society that discovered
the new world.
The possibility of discovering what an ideal society would be portrayed as is an impossible feat.
This is impossible because the ideal society is all subjective. I agree with Montaigne that the basic
society, that is ignorant of their potential creativity and imagination, can create an ideal society. I
do not agree however, that a complex society is only the things he says it is, brutal and greedy. I
believe that he has overlooked all the good qualities that a basic society can
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2. Montaigne Tone
Throughout the history of civilization, there have been many great thinkers and philosophers who
lay claim and offer their theory of the world around them. Michel de Montaigne, a prominent
philosopher of the French Renaissance, argued in his essays of the habitual inconsistency of man
and how it is nearly impossible for man to correct these everyday irregularities and contradictions.
To say that man is flawed and utterly irregular are statements not particularly surprising or
revelatory for philosophers to make, even in Montaigne's time. However, what can be considered
unique about Montaigne, aside from his sharp perceptions of the everyday man, are his sharp–and
honest–perceptions of himself, never bragging about his intellectual prowess or...show more content...
With each philosopher comes a different theory and approach to life, but a common thread amongst a
great many of them is this tone, this speaking with certainness and authority. For instance, in the
famous quote by Rene Descartes, "I think, therefore I am," comes with it a type of assertiveness.
Montaigne's approach, however, comes in contrary to Descartes. Rather than coming across as
definite and without doubt, Montaigne speaks very modestly and even query. In his "Of the
Inconstancy of Our Actions," Montaigne states, "I have nothing to say of myself entirely, simply,
and solidly without mixture and confusion" (4–5). So, rather than saying, "I think, therefore I am,"
Montaigne seems to first ask, "What is it that I think, why do I think that, and how does this get back
to me?" all while trying to put the "pieces" of his character together. Also, the simple fact remains
that one cannot heighten their image or affirm their stature without first fully knowing what their
image or stature is. And Montaigne seems rather uneasy to make such announcements. Rather than
having explanation marks, Montaigne would hang questions for nearly every statement he would
make; he did not feel he was capable of developing a grand plan or theory behind things, and this
modesty can be found in the initial purpose of his
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3. Essay on Of the Cannibals
The article "Of the Cannibals" from Michel Eyquem de Montaigne speaks about two major
problems. The first one is the problem of men telling stories subjectively instead of objectively. This
problem is dealt with only in very short and there is no real solution presented in the essay. The
other problem is men calling others barbarous just because they are different. The essay also deals
with the word "barbarism" and what can be meant by that.
Eyquem de Montaignes' thesis is that his own countrymen are not less or more barbarous than
cannibals, which are still very close to nature and to the origin of life.
The following excerpt of the essay will elaborate on these problems.
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne was born in 1533. After a...show more content...
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne also brings other examples where things change rapidly. So, for
example, a river that shifted its borders from one side to the other, or a city that his brother
discovered that got buried under sand within a very short time. This excurse seems to be there to
make clear that things change very fast. Then he returns to the new nation that some people call
barbarous whereas he himself does not think so. Michel says that all the invention and changes to
nature that humankind caused, did not make it any better, but the purity that was in it before is
worth much more than human intelligence. And that is the reason why he doe not call the
newly discovered nation barbarous because they are still very close to the origin of nature. In the
following passage he describes the tribe a bit closer: It is a nation without traffic, letters and
politics but they are free of envy and falsehood. There are no sick people amongst them and they
have abundance of all sources of nature. They sleep in long buildings and make drinks of roots.
The tribe spends a lot of time dancing and they have two important rules to follow: The first one is
"undismaied resolution to warre" and the second one is "inviolable affection to their wives." They
also have a religion which can be seen when the priests and prophets come to the town and speak to
them. They prophets often
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4. Montaigne On Solitude
Michel de Montaigne is the author the book On Solitude. In this book Montaigne brings up many
topics and discusses his views on them and what these nouns do to men in the world. Some of
these topics are solitude, as stated in the title, sadness, fear, books, as well as a few others. In these
topics Montaigne elaborates on how these objects and states of being can affect a person's life in
both positive and negative ways, but most of the affects that will be talked about are negative. In
any case, Montaigne's point of view on such objects connect even to today's times. To begin, let's talk
about solitude. In Montaigne's essay or chapter labeled "On Solitude", he brings up a quote in Latin
that when translated means, "Does knowing mean nothing...show more content...
Throughout the book On Solitude, Montaigne brings up several great points that he argues. If you
look at things such as fear, solitude, and sadness you will see some of the same trends talked about
by Montaigne happening in this very moment in time. Even though most might be a negative
reaction to these subjects, the correlation is
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5. Michel de Montaigne Essay
Michel de Montaigne The world is a place of chaos nowadays. At every turn of a corner, there is
desolation triggered from humanity's sidetracked views of what the world is about. With all this
deception and superficiality, pureness in the human soul seems almost non–existent. Michel de
Montaigne recognizes the essential need of this purity for the improvement of society in his Essays.
Although the main topics he is focusing own are his own nature, own habits, and own opinions, he
uses these personal vignettes to illustrate larger truths about man and his behaviors, his strengths
and weaknesses. He subtly forces us to see the materialistic ideals that supposedly make us "happy"
and dares us to see how it has tainted our minds and...show more content...
Artifice is the unnecessary "magnificence which drains away immediately from use or money"
(334). In "On Coaches", we see Montaigne's frustration with society's tendency to attempt to gain
respect with "deeds of the purse–string" rather than true "deeds of virtue" (338). He asserts that this
type of generosity doesn't have any real influence because of the tainted intentions behind it.
Montaigne urges us to see the limits of the mind that is shaped by shallowness and materialistic
possessions. He speaks with a harsh tone, "and against the ides of a universe which flows on
while we are in it, how puny and stunted in the knowledge of the most inquisitive men" (341),
trying to wake society out of he oblivion of artifice it has settled itself on to. In "To philosophize
is to learn how to die" he compares the span of human lives to the span of mountains and rivers, as
well as to insects whose lives lasts a single day. Carnal aspects influence even the general fear of
death humans' feel. "I truly believe that what frightens us more than death it self are those
terrifying grimaces and preparation with which we surround it" (35). At times it seems as if he
was writing in a state of frenzy because of human's ignorance of the insignificance issues they
deem to be significant when compared to the powers of nature. His frustrations make him scold us
in the place of Mother Nature. "Why do you complain of me or of Destiny?? Do we do you wrong?
Should you
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