Michel De Montaigne

Nature, according to Montaigne, can be interpreted in terms of human character, which is the belief that one’s society is superior to another. Because of this, humans have become resentful of one another, causing discord and the failure to establish a superior society that surpasses that of apes. Montaigne characterizes human personality as being clouded by ego and narrow-mindedness as a result of a stronger focus on gaining personal fulfillment (Hill 488). As a result, it has become difficult to cultivate empathy or to think rationally about life. The views of Montaigne regarding the state of corruption during his lifetime can be used as an analogy to corruption in the modern society. He explained that his experiences informed him about the occurrence of corruption in various forms such as treachery, lack of justice, tyranny, avarice, and cruelty. These are incidences that are common on the modern society where people are involved in different forma of corrupt acts despite being educated and civilized (Rigolot 3). It results into a situation where one man is able to see but does not follow what is perceived to be good.

A major famous quote by Montaigne is, _x0091_Wise people are foolish of they cannot adapt to foolish people_x0092_ this quote implies that a wise person must exercise self-control in making decisions. Otherwise he is likely to be influenced by those who do not have his interest at their hearts. Another quote is, _x0093_He who is not very strong in memory should not meddle with lies_x0094_. Montaigne uses this quote to emphasize that a person who is not good at developing a good personal protection from a particular bad act should not attempt to commit such an act in the first place because it will cause greater harm.

According to Montaigne, science has not resulted into a conclusive understanding of the world because most scientific claims change as more studies are conducted, reasons are flawed, and are scientific evidences are tinctured by emotions (Hill 494). This is contrary to Rabelais_x0092_s view of betterment of humankind through education in which he argues that humans have experienced better lives from the past due to increased availability of educational opportunities and the ability to implement it to solve issues affecting them.

_x000c_Works Cited

Hill, Benjamin. “Michel de Montaigne.” Sourcebook in the History of Philosophy of Language. Springer International Publishing, 2017. Pp. 487-495.

Rigolot, François. “Problematizing Renaissance Exemplarity: The Inward Turn of Dialogue from Petrarch to Montaigne.” Printed voices: The Renaissance culture of dialogue (2004): pp. 3-24.