In my rereading of selections from Great Books of the Western World guided by The Great Ideas Program, I’ve reached Montaigne’s The Essays. The ninth reading in the first volume of The Great Ideas Program, A General Introduction to the Great Books and to a Liberal Education by Mortimer J. Adler and Peter Wolff (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1959) considers a small selection of the essays (6 of 107) in The Essays.
Adler and Wolff consider what the essay is and why Montaigne used it, Montaigne’s aim and method, and four specific questions on the reading. Here I’ll sketch Montaigne’s life, summarize what Adler and Wolff say about Montaigne’s use of the essay, make a brief quotation from each of the six essays in The Essays which they assign for reading, and share the questions which they ask about the reading.
Montaigne’s Life
Montaigne was born Michel Eyquem on February 28, 1533, in the Château of Montaigne near Bordeaux. His father was a prosperous merchant and lord of the seigneury of Montaigne, and his mother wsa descended from a family of Spanish Jews that had recently converted to Catholicism. He was their third son, but by the death of his older brothers became heir to the estate.
Montaigne was brought up gently and until he was six was taught to speak only Latin. At that age he was sent to the Collège de Guyenne in Bordeaux. After seven disappointing years there, he studied law at Toulouse. In 1554 his father obtained a position for him in a new tax court in Bordeaux. In 1557 the court was abolished and its members were absorbed into one of the regional bodies that composed the Parlement of France, the king’s highest court of justice.
In 1565 Montaigne married Françoise de La Chassaigne, whose father was also a member of the the Parlement of Bordeaux. Although fond of women, he accepted marriage unenthusiastically as a social duty. However he lived on excellent terms with his wife and bestowed some pains on the education of their daughter, Léonore, the only one of six children to survive infancy.
In 1568 Montaigne’s father died, leaving him the lord of Montaigne. Two years later he sold his Parlement position, abandoned the name of Eyquem, and retired to his estate, intending to collect his ideas and write. While there (1571-1580) he wrote the first two books of the Essays, which were published in 1580 at Bordeaux.
The year after publishing the Essays Montaigne left the estate for extensive travel determined to find relief from internal disorders that had been troubling him. In 1581 while he was at La Villa in Italy, he learned that he had been elected mayor of Bordeaux. Returning there he served as mayor efficiently and was re-elected to a second term, which ended in 1585. He again retired to Montaigne but shortly after was driven from his estate by the plague.
Montaigne had begun revising the Essays almost immediately after their publication, perfecting their form and added new ones. While in Paris in 1588, he supervised the publication of the fifth edition of the Essays, the first to contain Book III. However he continued working on the Essaysafter returning to his estate, not writing any new books or chapters but adding numerous passages.
Sometime after returning to his estate in 1588, Montaigne was stricken with quinsy, which brought about a paralysis of the tongue. On the evening of September 13, 1592, he had his wife call together some of his neighbours so that he might bid them farewell. He requested mass to be said in his room and died while it was being said. He was 59.
My primary sources for the above are the biographical note on pages v-vi of the volume on Montaigne in Great Books of the Western World (volume 25; Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952) and “Montaigne, Michel de” in The New Encyclopedia Britannica (volume 12; Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974).
Montaigne’s Use of the Essay
An essay is “a literary composition of moderate length, dealing in an easy, cursory way with a single subject, usually representing the writer’s personal experience and outlook” (page 963 of volume III of The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974). Although earlier authors wrote essays, the term essai was first applied to the form by Montaigne, to emphasize that his compositions were just attempts to express his personal thoughts and experiences.
Adler and Wolff say that the most outstanding property of Montaigne’s essays is their intensely personal nature. They note that he often observes that his essays are products of leisurely speculation rather than products of experimentation and that he establishes his position by use of quotations and examples rather than by argument. Thus “both in method and intent … Montaigne is not a philosopher” (page 103, Mortimer J. Adler and Peter Wolff , A General Introduction to the Great Books and to a Liberal Education, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1959).
However they continue by asserting that “in aim and outlook, though not in method, Montaigne is akin to the modern social scientist. His concerns and subject matter fall into the field of history, anthropology, psychology, and sociology; all of these are the branches of social or behavioral science. And so, though the matter of his book is on one way himself, in another it is all of human behavior.” (same source as the previous quotation).
Quotations
XXII. Of custom, and that we should not easily change a law received
There is nothing, in my opinion, that [custom] does not, or may not do; and, therefore, with very good reason it is, that Pindar calls her the queen, and empress of the world. (The Essays, page 46; volume 25 of Great Books of the Western World, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952)
XXIV. Of pedantry
These pendants of ours … are, of all men they who most pretend to be useful to mankind, and who alone, of all men, do not better and improve that which is committed to them, as a carpenter or mason would, but make them much worse, and make us pay them for making them worse, to boot. (The Essays, page 58)
XXV. Of the education of children
Since philosophy is that which instructs us to live, and that infancy has there its lessons as well as other ages, why is it not communicated to children betimes? (The Essays, page 72)
XXVI. That it is folly to measure truth and error by our capacity
‘Tis not, perhaps, without reason, that we attribute facility of belief and easiness of persuasion, to simplicity and ignorance.… But then, on the other hand, ‘tis foolish presumption to slight and condemn all things for false that do not appear to us probable. (The Essays, page 80)
XXX. Of cannibals
I conceive there is more barbarity in eating a man alive, than when he is dead; in tearing a body limb from limb by racks and torments, that is yet in perfect sense; in roasting it by degrees; in causing it to be bitten and worried by dogs and swine … than to roast and eat him after he is dead. (The Essays, page 95)
XL. That the relish of good and evil depends in a great measure upon the opinion we have of them
If the original being of those things we fear had power to lodge itself in us by its own authority, it would then lodge itself alike, and in like manner, in all; … but the diversity of opinions we have of those things clearly evidences that they only enter us by composition; one person, peradventure, admits them in their true being, but a thousand others give them a new and contrary being in them. (The Essays, page 115)
Questions
1. Are all customs equally good? (on XXII)
2. Is custom itself responsible for what we consider good or bad? (on XXII and XL)
3. Do you agree with Montaigne’s view that philosophy should be studied by the young? (on XXV)
4. How valid is Montaigne’s argument that good and evil depend on opinion? (on XL)
Bob's Corner 
Thanks for this post about Montaigne. He didn’t have an easy life. Adler and Wolff asked some tough questions about his beliefs. How would you answer those questions?
Thanks for your question, Allison. I’ll summarize how Adler and Wolff answered the four questions and answer them myself. How would you answer them?
1. Are all customs equally good? (on XXII)
Adler and Wolff argue that since customs held by different groups often conflict with one another, it is possible to maintain that some are better or worse than others. They conclude, “Thus it would be possible to say that one family’s custom of beating their sons [a custom referred to by Montaigne] is not good, because it conflicts with the more generally held custom of sons honoring their fathers.” I agree with them that not all customs are equally good.
2. Is custom itself responsible for what we consider good or bad? (on XXII and XL)
Adler and Wolff argue that custom itself is not necessarily responsible for what we consider good. They illustrate by referring to the custom of polygamy, which Mormons used to view as good and to practice but that their country as a whole views as deplorable. They conclude, “Any evaluation of the customs of a group apparently has to be based not on the customs of that group, but either on the customs of some other group or on a concept of good that is not derived from custom.” I agree with them, realizing that much of what I view as good or bad is derived from the Bible rather than from custom.
3. Do you agree with Montaigne’s view that philosophy should be studied by the young? (on XXV)
Montaigne claims that philosophy should be studied by the young because it instructs us to live and thus shouldn’t be just taught when we’ve almost done living. Adler and Wolff disagree, pointing out that philosophy is more theoretical than practical and claiming that much of it is fully understandable only to adults. I agree with them.
4. How valid is Montaigne’s argument that good and evil depend on opinion? (on XL)
Actually the full title of the essay is “That the relish of good and evil depends in a great measure upon the opinion we have of them.” Adler and Wolff argue that the inclusion of “relish” and “”a great measure” indicate that the essay just claims “That the opinion of good and evil depends in a great measure upon the opinion we have of them.” I agree with them that just our relish of good and evil, not good and evil themselves, depends on our opinion of them.
Thank you for the summary of how Adler and Wolff answered the four questions and for your own answer.
1. I agree that not all customs are equally good. I struggle with knowing how one should react to groups that have different beliefs than mine. Some to me are minor such as how one dresses but others are more significant such as how one treats another.
2. Like you, I believe the Bible should dictate to Christians what is good or bad, but I also don’t think it’s that simple. Sometimes we use the Bible to justify our own desires. I believe this is why in the past slavery was allowed and women were refused the vote. Other times we’re more influenced than we realize by custom. I believe this is why for a long time missionaries wanted to change the customs of the groups to whom they brought the gospel.
3. I’ve mixed feelings about when philosophy should be taught. There’s a lot of literature that I read as a child and enjoyed but didn’t fully appreciate until an adult. Sometimes it’s good to introduce difficult ideas to the young so that the foundation is there. On the other hand, the more one becomes aware of the different sides to an issue, the more difficult makes choices can become. Sometimes too much confusion can create an unstable foundation.
4. I agree that just our relish of good and evil, not good and evil themselves, depends on our opinion of them.
Thanks, Allison, for answering so thoughtfully my question, “How would you answer those questions?”