Montaigne


 * Study Questions for Montaigne**
 * 1) Where was Montaigne from?
 * 2) What was the first language that Montaigne learned?
 * 3) What was his religious background? What was his position in regard to religion?
 * 4) Why can we say that Montaigne was an intellectual recluse?
 * 5) Where did he retire in 1871?
 * 6) What was happening in France during Montaigne's time?
 * 7) What political position did he hold?
 * 8) Describe his best known work. When was it published?
 * 9) Why did Montaigne not become involved with the civil strife between Catholics and Huguenots?
 * 10) What literary genre did Montaigne create? Describe it.
 * 11) What are the topics of Montaigne's work?
 * 12) Who is he writing for?
 * 13) What is the definition of virtue and vice according to Montaigne?
 * 14) Who is the "only reliable source" according to Montaigne?
 * 15) According to Montaigne, what is the only subject on which one can speak with any degree of certainty?
 * 16) How does Montaigne use Leonidas as an example?
 * 17) How did Montaigne learn about cannibals? How does he compare their customs to European customs?
 * 18) When asked what they found strange about Europeans, what did the "cannibals" point out?
 * 19) What does Montaigne refer to when he says "... there is more barbarity in eating a man alive than in eating him dead..."?
 * 20) In which ways is Montaigne' s philosophy relativist? If you disagree, explain.
 * 21) Translate and explain Terentious' statement in the context of Montaigne's work: "Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto."
 * 22) According to Montaigne, what does inconsistency in our actions reveal?