Michel de Montaigne

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (February 28, 1533 - September 13, 1592) was a French Renaissance thinker who took himself as the object of study in his Essays (http://www.orst.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/montaigne/m-essays_contents.html).

He was born in Périgord[?]. A lawyer and politician, he served as mayor of Bordeaux from 1581 to 1585, but had already started to write his great work, the Essais, which were published in 1580, enlarged in 1588 and still not completed to his satisfaction at the time of his death.

One of his more well-known quotations is "Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside desperate to get out."

Overall, Montaigne was known to be a strong supporter of Humanism, even indirectly claiming humans equal to God.

To flesh out this article, see, for example http://www.orst.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/montaigne.html.

External Link

• e-text of The Essays Of Montaigne (http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=2513)

• A translation of his Essays in English:http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/montaigne/m-essays_contents.html