Category: Michel de Montaigne
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Practical lessons from Michel de Montaigne and the Renaissance
When Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) developed a deep interest in history, he was following a cultural trend. There are many examples from the sixteenth century of people trying to make sense of their world by studying history, especially the history of ancient Rome and ancient Greece. In the Renaissance, learned people purchased copies of the…
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Michel de Montaigne and the Renaissance
Critical thinking is the key characteristic of the writings of Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), who symbolises the spirit of the Renaissance. Mind you, the social and political context at that time was very different from our century. Daring to say what you think was far from self-evident in the Renaissance. Montaigne exercised critical thinking in…
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Examples of Michel de Montaigne and humanism
In his “Essays,” Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) often called for reason and tolerance. Those are distinctive features of humanism, together with critical thinking, a love of ancient history, and a strong preference for experience over theory. Montaigne was aware that sheer distance, whether temporal or geographical, can prompt people to suspicion. He wrote that “every…
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Michel de Montaigne and humanism
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) is the archetypical writer from the Renaissance, the archetypical example of Humanism. Nowadays, his ideas are almost forgotten. They are no longer taught in today’s education system; the study of classical Greek and Roman history, philosophy and literature are no longer a priority. What is Humanism? The concept is related to…
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Michel de Montaigne’s thoughts on risk
In his pursuit of reason, effectiveness and happiness, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) devoted extensive efforts to assess risks; he recorded his reflections and conclusions in essays like “On one saying of Caesar.” Montaigne refers to a saying from Caesar just to start his discussion about risk. He wants to establish the role played by reason…
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Practical examples of Michel de Montaigne’s thoughts
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) wrote extensively but the structure of his thoughts is sometimes disrupted. The reason is not difficult to fathom. He did not have a word processor and it was hard for him to edit his handwritten texts. In this respect, he was facing the same problem as any other author during the…
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Michel de Montaigne’s thoughts
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was more a gatherer than a creator of philosophical ideas. He devoted twenty years of his life to writing essays on history, literature and morality, but all his conclusions are based on prior philosophers. Montaigne’s contribution is the personal touch that he gave to his compilations of knowledge. He mixed up…
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