随笔的发明者
Michel de Montaigne（1533-1592）
创造新文学形式：
Essay（随笔）
法语"essai"=attempt、try
他的essays=尝试：
Think through问题——
Test ideas——
Explore self
不是systematic treatise——
而是rambling、personal、honest meditations
主题：everything
- 死亡
- 友谊
- 教育
- 食人族
- 拇指
- 战马
- Sleep
- 任何他curious about的
统一的question throughout：
“Que sais-je?"（我知道什么？）
这是skeptical motto——
也是humble承认——
知识的limits
生平：从public到private
早年
出生于Bordeaux附近château——
Noble family（虽然recently ennobled）
父亲有unusual educational ideas：
只对Michel说拉丁语（从baby）——
他的native tongue！
Greek、music——
Gentle、humanist education
Contrast他later批评harsh scholastic教育
公职
Study law
Become magistrate（judge）in Bordeaux parlement（高等法院）
13年公职（1557-1570）
在此period：
Meet Étienne de La Boétie——
亲密友谊（后面讲）
La Boétie早逝（1563）——
深刻影响Montaigne
Retirement
1571（38岁）：
Retire from public life——
To his family château
在tower的library
开始write essays
Famous inscription on library beam：
“In the year of Christ 1571, at the age of thirty-eight, on the last day of February, his birthday, Michel de Montaigne, long weary of the servitude of the court and of public employments, while still entire, retired to the bosom of the learned virgins [the Muses], where in calm and freedom from all cares he will spend what little remains of his life, now more than half run out. If the fates permit, he will complete this abode, this sweet ancestral retreat; and he has consecrated it to his freedom, tranquility, and leisure.”
理想：
Otium（闲暇、学习）
像Cicero、Seneca
But公共生活pull him back
French Wars of Religion（Catholic vs Huguenot）——
Violent、destructive
Montaigne try mediate——
被both sides trust（rare）
1581-1585：
Mayor of Bordeaux（两任）
Return to public service——
Though reluctantly
Travel to Italy（1580-1581）——
Seek cure for kidney stones、see world
1592：去世，château
Work on essays直到最后
《随笔集》的Evolution
Three"books”（volumes）——
Written over ~20年
不是static——
Constantly revising、adding
Book I和II（1580）
Earlier essays——
Shorter、more Stoic in tone
Many start from classical quotations、examples
Themes：
- Virtue、courage
- 死亡preparation
- Custom和habit
- Education
Book III（1588）
Later essays——
Longer、more personal、more skeptical
Less Stoic、more accepting of human weakness
Famous essays：
- “Of Repentance”
- “Of Vanity”
- “Of Experience”
Continuous revision
即使after publication——
Montaigne keep adding to earlier essays
Margins filled with additions
“Bordeaux copy”（他的working copy）——
Shows layers of thought
This is part of essay’s nature：
Ongoing exploration——
不是fixed conclusions
核心思想：怀疑主义
Que sais-je？
“What do I know?”
His motto
Revival of ancient Pyrrhonian skepticism：
Suspend judgment——
因为知识uncertain
Senses deceive——
Reason contradicts itself——
Custom varies
One truth？或many？
“Apology for Raymond Sebond”
Longest essay——
Supposed defend Sebond（15世纪theologian）——
Who claimed prove Christianity by reason
But Montaigne’s"defense"=奇怪：
Show reason’s weakness！
If reason so feeble——
Then it can’t攻击Sebond
（因为can’t judge anything）
Backhanded defense
但real point：
Skepticism about reason’s power
Arguments：
1. Animals的智慧
Animals often wiser than humans！
Bees、ants organize societies
Dogs loyal、elephants mourn
人的reason=not so special
2. Senses unreliable
Optical illusions——
Different species perceive differently
Fever changes taste
How trust sensations？
3. Reason inconsistent
Philosophers contradict each other——
Plato vs Aristotle vs Epicurus vs Stoics
哪个对？
Each seems convincing
4. Custom’s power
What seems obvious in one culture=absurd in another
Cannibalism（某些culture）vs war（European）——
哪个more barbaric？
Questionable
5. 人的presumption
Humans think self center of universe——
But maybe just one creature among many
“Presumption is our natural and original malady”
Fideism？
Montaigne’s skepticism leads to：
Faith不是reason
Since reason inadequate——
Must rely on revelation、grace
这是fideism
Some argue Montaigne真sincere Catholic
Others：strategic（avoid persecution）
Ambiguous
Self-knowledge
虽然skeptical about general knowledge——
Montaigne believe in knowing self
“I am my subject”
Essays=study of himself
“I am myself the matter of my book.”
不是abstract philosophy——
而是：
What do I actually think、feel、experience？
Honest self-portrait
包括flaws、contradictions、变化
Changeability
他发现：
I am not consistent！
不同moments、moods→different thoughts
“I cannot keep my subject still…I do not portray being: I portray passing.”
人=flux
不是fixed essence
这anticipate modern psychology：
Self=process，不是substance
Honesty
Radical honesty about himself：
承认weaknesses、doubts、bodily functions
不pretend be better than he is
This was shocking——
Nobility suppose maintain dignity
Montaigne：
“Even on the highest throne, we are sitting on our behind.”
Human、humbling
Universality through particularity
Paradox：
Most personal=most universal
Montaigne详细描述himself——
Readers find themselves
“Every man bears the whole form of the human condition”
Practical Philosophy
Montaigne关注：
How to live？
接受人性
不是Stoic suppression of passions——
而是accept human nature as is
We are body+mind——
不只是reason
Pleasure、pain、fear=part of us
Work with，不是against
Moderation
Virtue=mean
不是extremes
不是ascetic、不是hedonistic
不是dogmatic、不是nihilistic
中道（Though Montaigne doesn’t use this term——
这是Aristotelian echo）
Death
如何面对死亡？
Early essays：Stoic approach——
“Philosophize=learn to die”
Prepare、contemplate death constantly
Later：
Actually，obsessing over death=waste life
Better：live well——
Death will come when it comes
“I want death to find me planting my cabbages”
Accept、不是fear
Education
Critique pedantic教育：
Stuffing facts into heads
Children成为parrots
Instead：
Teach judgment、critical thinking
少即是多
Wide reading、conversation
Travel、experience
“A well-made head rather than a well-filled head”
友谊：La Boétie
Montaigne最moving essay：
“Of Friendship”
About Étienne de La Boétie——
His beloved friend
Perfect friendship
描述rare、perfect friendship：
“If you press me to say why I loved him, I feel it cannot be expressed except by replying: ‘Because it was he, because it was I.’”
超越reason——
超越utility
两个灵魂merge
Ancient ideal（Aristotle、Cicero）
但Montaigne体验到
Loss
La Boétie died young（plague）
Montaigne devastated
某些say：
Essays=substitution for lost conversation with La Boétie
写作=internal dialogue
Trying recreate friendship
Friendship vs other relationships
Montaigne contrast：
Friendship with father/son、husband/wife——
这些有inequality、obligation
真正friendship=
Between equals、free
This is highest human relationship
文化相对主义
“Of Cannibals”
Famous essay
Brazilian cannibals（reported by travelers）
Montaigne’s reaction：
不是horror——
而是reflection
他们eat enemy corpses（ritual）——
We torture living（Inquisition、religious wars）
哪个more barbaric？
“I think there is more barbarity in eating a man alive than in eating him dead.”
Point：
不要too quick judge other cultures
我们的customs也strange
Custom’s tyranny
We think our way=natural——
实际=just习惯
每个culture think self superior
实际all contingent
这是early cultural relativism
但also problem：
Is there no universal standard？
Montaigne不fully address这
Montaigne vs Earlier Philosophy
Distinct from：
vs Scholastics
No系统、no syllogisms
Personal、experiential
Concrete vs abstract
vs Plato
No Forms、no certain knowledge of reality
Accept appearances
vs Stoics（部分）
Early admiration——
Later：too rigid
Stoics deny emotions——
Montaigne：embrace complexity
Closest to：
Academic skeptics（Cicero）
Pyrrhonian skeptics（Sextus Empiricus）
但更personal、literary
Influence
Essay genre
Montaigne invent it——
后来countless imitators：
Bacon（though different style）
Lamb、Hazlitt（English essayists）
Emerson
现代：virtually all personal essays
Skepticism
Revival of skepticism影响：
Descartes（reaction against）
Pascal（both admire和批评）
Hume（embrace）
Modern subjectivity
Montaigne’s focus on self——
Anticipate modern individualism
Self as worthy subject
Inner life的richness
Tolerance
Cultural relativism——
虽然not完全consistent——
Contribute to tolerance ideal
Different≠wrong
批评
1. Too skeptical？
If知识impossible——
Paralysis？
How act？
Montaigne会说：
Follow custom、probability
不need certainty
2. Elitist
Leisure to write essays=privilege
多数人can’t afford这种introspection
3. Inconsistent
Claim suspend judgment——
但actually express many judgments！
Skepticism selective
4. Lack systematic thought
Rambling、unsystematic
不是rigorous philosophy
But maybe that’s point——
Life不是systematic
现代意义
1. Self-examination
Montaigne’s model：
Know yourself through honest reflection
写日记、思考经验
今天：journaling、therapy某些ideas trace back
2. Epistemic humility
“我知道什么？”
在overconfident assertions时代——
Reminder：
承认uncertainty=wisdom
3. Embrace complexity
人是contradictory——
Don’t force consistency
Life messy
Accept这
4. Cultural humility
Don’t assume our way=only way
Other cultures有不同wisdom
实践
1. Essay yourself
Write about your experiences、thoughts
不是for publication——
For self-understanding
Montaigne’s method
2. Question assumptions
What do I really know？
哪些是习惯、哪些是真理？
Skeptical inquiry
3. Accept yourself
Including flaws、inconsistencies
Montaigne model：
Honest self-portrait
不是airbrushed ideal
4. Read broadly
Montaigne read ancients、moderns、各种
Conversation with books
This enriches
Montaigne——
在他的tower library——
Surrounded by books——
（Ceiling beams=inscribed with Greek、Latin quotations）
Writing——
About anything、everything
Trying ideas——
Testing thoughts
他的question：
“Que sais-je？”
我知道什么？
Answer：
Not much certain——
But much interesting
我知道：
I change——
I contradict myself——
I am human
这不是failure——
这是truth
他的essays——
不是monuments——
而是paths
Traced through——
Uncertain terrain——
Of self、world、knowledge
Inviting us——
Walk our own paths
Try our own essays
“Que sais-je？”
这question——
不是despair——
而是beginning
Of wisdom
Humble——
Curious——
Human