Michel de Montaigne was born in 1533 in southwestern France, into a wealthy family. He had access to a broad education, including languages, critical thinking and arts, which laid the foundation for his later writings. After training as a lawyer, he came into the goverment and finally became the mayor of Bordeaux.
After retiring from his position as mayor, Montaigne dedicated himself to reading, writing, and contemplation. He focused on his main work, Essays, a collection that explores human behavior, personal reflection, limitation of human knowledge, and methods for deeper self-understanding.
Montaigne's "Of the Cannibals" is a famous essay in his Essays that explores cultural relativism and the nature of civilization. He conveys that people dismiss unfamiliar things because of the differences. In his opinion, people should examine their own societies instead of judging other cultures by only one standard. When the French colonized, they called the tribal people barbarians and considered themselves civilized. While Europeans saw themselves as "civilized," their society was full of violence and conquest.
His words showed his empathy and challenged his readers to question what civilization really is and what barbarian really is. He also help us find our own biases on unfamiliar things and he is the earliest philosopher to teach us to be objective and view things in different perspectives.
Michel de Montaigne was born in 1533 in southwestern France into a wealthy family. He had access to a broad education, including languages, critical thinking, and arts, which laid the foundation for his later writings. After training as a lawyer, he entered the government and eventually became the mayor of Bordeaux.
After retiring from his position as mayor, Montaigne dedicated himself to reading, writing, and contemplation. He focused on his main work, The Essays, a collection that explores human behavior, personal reflection, the limitations of human knowledge, and methods for deeper self-understanding.
Montaigne’s “Of the Cannibals” is a famous essay in his Essays that explores cultural relativism and the nature of civilization. He argues that people dismiss unfamiliar things because of their differences. In his opinion, people should examine their own societies instead of judging other cultures by only one standard. When the French colonized, they called the tribal people barbarians and considered themselves civilized. While Europeans saw themselves as “civilized,” their society was full of violence and conquest.
His words showed his empathy and challenged his readers to question what civilization really is and who the barbarian really is. He also helps us find our own biases toward unfamiliar things, and he was one of the earliest philosophers to teach us to be objective and view things from different perspectives.