Skeptical Views in Montaigne Essays

For Montaigne, the main issue is the human problem, but not the one who occupies a central place in the universe, but the ordinary and concrete person. This is a new subject for philosophy, so Montaigne comes up with a new form of presentation of his reflections.
Philosophy, in conformity with Montaigne Essays, should return to everyday life.

Philosophy, in conformity with Montaigne Essays, should return to everyday life.
Self-attainments is the tool for this. Montaigne calls for the renunciation of any authority and school since they can not give the attainments to a person. Therefore, he criticizes scholasticism, considering that it is not true, because it is based on traditions, and not on a clear and solid philosophical foundation, which has been tested and proven. A genuine philosophy can only be free, not taking on faith any arguments and positions. Therefore, it existed in the ancient world, but scholasticism left it, and one of the signs that it is not a genuine philosophy is that scholasticism is everywhere the same. Free people differ from each other, and philosophies are different. Such a variety of philosophical schools is precisely in ancient Greece; therefore ancient philosophy is a real free philosophy.

Self-attainments is the tool for this. Montaigne calls for the renunciation of any authority and school since they can not give the attainments to a person. Therefore, he criticizes scholasticism, considering that it is not true, because it is based on traditions, and not on a clear and solid philosophical foundation, which has been tested and proven. A genuine philosophy can only be free, not taking on faith any arguments and positions. Therefore, it existed in the ancient world, but scholasticism left it, and one of the signs that it is not a genuine philosophy is that scholasticism is everywhere the same. Free people differ from each other, and philosophies are different. Such a variety of philosophical schools is precisely in ancient Greece; therefore ancient philosophy is a real free philosophy.

The main vice for philosophy is the power of authority, the lack of freedom. The search for truth in this philosophy is replaced by interpretation, exegesis. But real philosophy speaks of a person, of his specific needs, of his joys and pains, of grief and happiness, and therefore genuine philosophy, like a real person, is joyful and happy. This is the concept essay topic of his work.

The thinker creates a new method in philosophy, the same justifies his choice of priorities among the ancient philosophers.  Montaigne is not interested in Plato, Platonists, and Peripatetics. Only skeptics are closest to him. Montaigne became the philosopher who popularized the ideas of the ancient skeptics.

The thinker creates a new method in philosophy, the same justifies his choice of priorities among the ancient philosophers.  Montaigne is not interested in Plato, Platonists, and Peripatetics. Only skeptics are closest to him. Montaigne became the philosopher who popularized the ideas of the ancient skeptics.

Over time, thanks to the influence that the thinker had on modern Europe, the ideas of skeptics began to penetrate deeper into the minds of philosophers. However, Montaigne himself was not an absolutely consistent skeptic. His skeptical arguments were mainly directed against religious fanaticism. A person has the greatest value for Montaigne. Any dogmas and regulations can be compared in value to our life.

Doubts of The thinker are directed against the universally recognized things and traditions. This is something that has long been to be overcome. It exists not because it is true, but because people are used to believing in it and are accustomed not to doubt. In order to discover the sooth, you need to doubt everything. It is self-confidence that engenders all human vices. To come to the genuine attainments, it is necessary to make sure that the person knows nothing. Therefore, skepticism for Montaigne is not the goal, not the end, but the beginning of true philosophizing. But skepticism is not only the beginning of attainments but also its result, because when a person learns, he becomes convinced of the weakness of his attainments, the insufficiency of his awareness. Therefore, without rejecting attainments in general, Montaigne affirms the relativity of attainments: a person knows something, but he can not have absolute attainments.

The anti-religious orientation of Montaigne adjoins the anti-anthropocentric position, which maintains that everything that exists in the world exists for humanity.  He says that an individual is part of nature. He is reasonable and moral, but he is only a part.  Therefore, everyone should recognize the inexorable fact that he lives under the laws of nature, and he is able to gain freedom only acting under these laws.  He also objects to the anthropomorphic understanding of God. You can not talk about God as a person, endowing Him with such categories as a reason, will, and love. God does not distinguish anything in this world, for him, everything is equal- both a person and a leaf on the tree. A person should not boast of his position because all beings are initially equal.

The belonging of a person to a particular religion is determined by his nationality. Therefore, morality should be built not on religious, but on natural grounds. The foundations of morality are inherent in nature itself. Since nature does not tell us anything about the immortality of our soul, the soul is not immortal and dies with the body. But this does not destroy morality, and Montaigne repeats the thesis that the lack of faith in the immortality of the soul and the hope of an afterlife do not eliminate, but contribute to true morality. Not believing in the afterlife, a person loses the selfish basis of his life and lives under truly moral laws. These moral laws are established by nature.  Knowing them, a person lives a moral life. Ethics of Montaigne echoes the ethics of the Epicurean, in which a man, on the one hand, should live unnoticed, satisfying with the blessings that nature gives him and without inventing unnecessary luxuries, and on the other hand, the meaning and purpose of human life consist in the pursuit of happiness. Therefore, the ethics of Montaigne is cheerful in the Epicurean sense of the word. The goal of life can only consist in life itself.

Work Sites

• Essays (Montaigne) – Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essays_(Montaigne)
• Essays of Michel de Montaigne – Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3600?msg=welcome_stranger
• Michel de Montaigne (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montaigne/