An independent spirit and strong nerves are the prerequisites of intellectual independence. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) possessed those qualities, but had not inherited them. It would take him three decades of trial and error to acquire them. Nowadays, intellectual independence is as rare as it was in Montaigne’s lifetime, that is, in sixteenth-century France. Few…

Despite his erudition and hard work, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) never grasped the need for an objective morality. I find in his essays a relentless effort to obscure ethical truths in order to preach moral relativism and contorted ethical equality. Montaigne employed ethical fallacies as arguments once and again; he employed “universal emotions” to call…

In his essays, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), addresses frequently the subject of cultural identity. I can summarize his conclusions in two sentences. First, he acknowledges that each culture has its own rituals, likes and dislikes. Second, he rates those differences as minor if compared with the traits shared by humans in all cultures. Montaigne underlines…