For Montaigne, skepticism is the first step toward truth. Skepticism of ancient Greek origins was rediscovered in the middle ages and has been important ever since to scientific, religious, political and ethical thought since that time. Montaigne lived and wrote at a pivotal time European history, at the commerce of three seminal changes in perspective. By the first half of the sixteenth century, the Medieval consensus that kept the Catholic Church together was coming undone. In 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses, and the theological crisis crashed headlong into the budding scientific revolution and discovery of what for us would be tantamount to the discovery of intelligent life another planet, the discovery of North America.
Philosophical skepticism is not simply the denial of an orthodox or majority view, this is the common, everyday use of the idea, simply the expression of disagreement. The philosophical skepticism of Montaigne is about doubt, not mere disagreement. Philosophical skepticism is a general view, not disagreement with specifics or over particulars.
Sarah Bakewell shows how Montaigne chose philosophical skepticism, doubt, as the best way to remain un-dogmatic which is the path to tranquility. Skepticism means freedom of thought for Montaigne where nothing in the world is more this than or that in the tradition Pyrrho. This leads first to indifference, then to the suspension of judgment, hence to tolerance and finally to peace of mind as Sarah Bakewell shows was most often the case with Montaigne. We must recall that in the original Greek, skepticism meant investigation which could lead to modesty about the knowledge and relativism about values. Socrates provided the ancient model for modesty about knowledge when he said, “what I do not know, I do not think I know”. The original model for relativism was in the ancient Greeks finding that what looked like universal values and principles were just local conventions, customs and practices specific to time and place.
In Montaigne’s time, skeptical arguments were used to rationalize religions belief, not cast doubt upon it. The target of the doubt was the emerging and yet untested secular, rational and scientific knowledge. Doubt was cast on the human ability to truly understand the nature of existence independent of revelation and belief in God and was thus endorsed by religious authorities of the time. That is, skepticism undermines faith in the powers of human reason. It was also a powerful weapon in the hands of the Catholic Church against the Protestant and Lutheran 'upstarts' of the sixteenth-century. Sarah Bakewell traces how Montaigne falls out of favor in the succeeding century when secular, rational and scientific knowledge becomes much more secure and Montaigne's type skepticism boomeranged upon revelation and religious belief. The skepticism once was used to rationalize religious belief rather now becomes the powerful tool for casting doubt about religious belief. This is what I mean by the skeptical boomerang. The seventeenth-century was an era in which certainty was sought as shown in the philosophical inquires of Descartes and Pascal who despised Montaigne as did the Catholic Church of the seventeenth-century. Descartes is famous for his skeptical doubt but for Descartes skepticism is not the way to tranquility and peace of mind, it is something to be overcome. That is Descartes' skeptical arguments did not make him a skeptic. Skepticism is not a value, it is only instrumental heuristic tool. Thus, Descartes was a methodological skeptic, not a problematic skeptic as was Montaigne. Descartes used skepticism, not without controversy, to build a rational foundation for religious faith, not call it into doubt. In a sense, Descartes was an anti-skeptic. Faith and skepticism are thus forever intertwined. With the 'Cogito' argument the conception as human beings as 'res cogitans', Descartes provided the exaggerated rationalistic formula to prevent his world from falling apart but in so doing created a island of subjective mentality that ignored the social context of human existence. In his quest for certainty, Descartes forgot what Montaigne knew, that philosophical thinking is the tool by which we address the uncertaintyies and deep existential questions presented by existence itself, not to banish them from existence.
Montaigne's understanding of skepticism is that for every proposition, there is a counter proposition. He lived through very brutal religious wars in France where he saw people killing each other over the things that they believed, which were the result of dogmatism. As Montaigne put it, dogmatism does not allow us not to know what we do not know. That is, dogmatism forces people to take sides and is very polarizing. Skepticism was the tool Montaigne used to defuse this noxious mix of belief, polarization and dogmatism.
Consider this move made by Augustine. I feel that it is cold, the skeptic can rejoin me and tell me that I only feel that it is cold but how do I know that it really is cold? This being the case, I can still know that I feel it is cold. I can know my own feeling. That is, skepticism cannot dissolve my first person subjective experience of existence without dissolving existence itself. Montaigne understood that to be skeptical one must presuppose existence, not skeptically dismiss it.
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Gazza
The Life of Montaigne
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 29, 2019
The Life of Montaigne
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 29, 2019
How to Live by Sarah Bakewell is a wonderful account of the life of Montaigne. I read it in just over a few days, finding it hard to put the book down. I learned a great deal about Montaigne, whose name, before reading this biography, was only a passing reference I’d come across in Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy. In short, this book is very well written and highly informative throughout. I believe Bakewell’s account will remain the standard work on Montaigne for a very long time. Highly recommended.Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 29, 2019
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CloselyObservedEnglish
An unorthodox biography perfectly suited to the subject
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 6, 2018
Jezza
Too long for a short introduction, and more detail than I needed as a general reader!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 28, 2017
hiljean
A thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 28, 2011
Louise Gillett
An impressive feat, but complex.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 6, 2015
