Essays [Paperback]

Reflections by the creator of the essay form display the humane, skeptical, humorous, and honest views of Montaigne, revealing his thoughts on sexuality, religion, cannibals, intellectuals, and other unexpected themes. Included are such celebrated works as On Solitude, To Philosophize Is to Learn How to Die, and On Experience. EssaysIntroduction
To the Reader

Book One
7. That our actions should be judged by our intentions
8. On idleness
9. On liars
10. That no man should be called happy until after his death
21. On the power of the imagination
22. That one man's profit is another's loss
26. On the education of children
27. That it is folly to measure truth and error by our own capacity
28. On friendship
31. On cannibals
36. On the custom of wearing clothes
47. On the uncertainty of our judgement
50. On Democritus and Heraclitus
55. On smells

Book Two
8. On the affection of fathers for their children
10. On books
11. On cruelty
17. On presumption
28. All things have their season
32. A defence of Seneca and Plutarch

Book Three
2. On repentance
3. On three kinds of relationships
6. On vehicles
8. On the art of conversation
12. On physiognomy
13. On experience

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 refló>