Essays

by Montaigne, Michel de; Cohen, John M.; Cohen, John M.

• ISBN13: 9780140178975
• ISBN10: 014017897X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-07-01
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

Taken together, this selection of essays forms an exquisitely drawn portrait that depicts the strength and warmth of Montaigne's personality. And, as J.M. Cohen observes in his introduction, 'One sees, as one reads him, how broad his mind was, and how many of the ideas of the next two centuries he grasped by anticipation.'

Author Biography

Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne, was born in 1533, the son and heir of Pierre, Seigneur de Montaigne (two previous children dying soon after birth). He was brought up to speak Latin as his mother tongue and always retained a Latin turn of mind; though he knew Greek, he preferred to use translations. After studying law he eventually became counselor to the Parlement of Bordeaux. He married in 1565. In 1569 he published his French version of the Natural Theology of Raymond Sebond; his Apology is only partly a defense of Sebond and sets skeptical limits to human reasoning about God, man and nature. He retired in 1571 to his lands at Montaigne, devoting himself to reading and reflection and to composing his Essays (first version, 1580). He loathed the fanaticism and cruelties of the religious wars of the period, but sided with Catholic orthodoxy and legitimate monarchy. He was twice elected Mayor of Bordeaux (1581 and 1583), a post he held for four years. He died at Montaigne (1592) while preparing the final, and richest, edition of his Essays.

Table of Contents

Introduction	9	(14)
To the Reader	23	(2)
BOOK ONE
That our actions should be judged by our intentions	25	(1)
On idleness	26	(2)
On liars	28	(5)
That no man should be called happy until after his death	33	(3)
On the power of the imagination	36	(12)
That one man's profit is another's loss	48	(1)
On the education of children	49	(37)
That it is folly to measure truth and error by our own capacity	86	(5)
On friendship	91	(14)
On cannibals	105	(14)
On the custom of wearing clothes	119	(4)
On the uncertainty of our judgement	123	(7)
On Democritus and Heraclitus	130	(3)
On smells	133	(4)
BOOK TWO
On the affection of fathers for their children	137	(22)
On books	159	(15)
On cruelty	174	(16)
On presumption	190	(35)
All things have their season	225	(2)
A defence of Seneca and Plutarch	227	(8)
BOOK THREE
On repentance	235	(15)
On three kinds of relationships	250	(14)
On vehicles	264	(21)
On the art of conversation	285	(26)
On physiognomy	311	(32)
On experience	343