Michel de Montaigne: Accidental Philosopher PDF
Preview Michel de Montaigne: Accidental Philosopher
This page intentionally left blank MicheldeMontaigne AccidentalPhilosopher MicheldeMontaigne,theinventoroftheessay,hasalwaysbeenac- knowledgedasagreatliteraryfigurebuthasneverbeenthoughtof asaphilosophicaloriginal.ThisbookisthefirsttotreatMontaigne as a serious thinker in his own right, taking as its point of depar- tureMontaigne’sdescriptionofhimselfas“anunpremeditatedand accidentalphilosopher.” WhereaspreviouscommentatorshavetreatedMontaigne’sEssays as embodying a skepticism harking back to classical sources, Ann Hartle offers a fresh account that reveals Montaigne’s thought to bedialectical,transformingskepticaldoubtintowonderatthemost familiar aspects of life. The essay is the new philosophical form of thisdialecticalthought,inwhichtheworldispresentedasradically contingent but where the divine is present in an incarnational and sacramentalway. Thismajorreassessmentofamuchadmiredbutalsomuchunder- estimatedthinkerwillinterestawiderangeof historiansofphiloso- phyaswellasscholarsincomparativeliterature,Frenchstudies,and thehistoryofideas. AnnHartleisProfessorofPhilosophyatEmoryUniversity. Tomyson,RobertWymanHartle,Jr. Michel de Montaigne Accidental Philosopher ANN HARTLE EmoryUniversity Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge , United Kingdom Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521821681 © Ann Hartle 2003 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2003 - isbn-13 978-0-511-07036-5 eBook (EBL) - isbn-10 0-511-07036-5 eBook (EBL) - isbn-13 978-0-521-82168-1 hardback - isbn-10 0-521-82168-1 hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of s for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Contents Acknowledgments pagevii NoteontheTexts viii Introduction 1 part i: a new figure 1 “ThatIsWhereHeGotIt!”:Montaigne’sCapricesandthe HumorsofAncientPhilosophy 11 SkepticismTransformed 13 DeliberatePhilosophy 25 WhatIsAccidentalPhilosophy? 33 2 BendingandStretchingtheCategoriesofTraditional Metaphysics 39 BeingandBecoming 40 Nature 41 Causality 54 TheUniversalandtheParticular 58 3 TheEssayasPhilosophicalForm 62 TheMeaningof“Essay” 63 Purpose 65 Audience 72 ThePracticeofQuotationandtheEssenceofThought 74 TheDialecticofHistoryandPoetry 78 DaemonicOrder 83 part ii: accidental philosophy 4 TheCircularDialecticofSelf-Knowledge 91 CircularDialectic 91 TheDialecticofPresumption 106 v vi Contents 5 “WhatItMeanstoBelieve” 121 NatureandGrace 122 TheDialecticofFaithandReason 134 TheHarmonyofFaithandReason 144 6 TheLatentMetaphysicsofAccidentalPhilosophy 149 ThoughtThinkingThought 150 AccidentalBeing 157 part iii: the character of the accidental philosopher 7 Montaigne’sCharacter:TheGreat-SouledManwithoutPride 171 “TruthSaidinLaughing” 171 TheFriendshipThatWeOweOurselves 176 RelocatingtheGreat-SouledMan 182 OpennessofHeartandTongue 188 8 WhatHeLearnedintheNursery:AccidentalMoral PhilosophyandMontaigne’sReformation 192 TheAccidentalAuthorityofExample 193 TheExcessesofVirtue 194 ModeratingVirtue 199 NaturalGoodnessandInnocence 204 Montaigne’sReformation 210 9 ChristianityandtheLimitsofPolitics 217 TheLimitsofPolitics 220 TwoCities 226 TheReligionofPublicness 230 Notes 241 WorksCited 283 Index 297 Acknowledgments ThisstudyofthephilosophicallifehaskeptmemindfulofthedebtthatI owetoJosephCarpino,GeraldGalgan,BrotherPascalKelly,NinoLangiulli, andFrancisSlade,whofirstmademanifesttometheintegrityofthephilo- sophicallifeandthelifeoffaith.Iwanttoacknowledgethatdebthereand toexpressmydeepestgratitudefortheexampleandthefriendshipofeach ofthem. I am grateful for conversations over the years with Donald Livingston, CarlPage,andDonaldVerene,conversationsthatneverfailedtoshedlight formeonthenatureofphilosophyandtheworthofthephilosophicallife. Eachofthesefriendsreadanearlierdraftofthisbookandgavemevaluable suggestions for improving it. My thanks are also due to Gregory Johnson, whosecommentsonanearlierdraftwereveryhelpfultome.TheResearch CommitteeofEmoryUniversityprovidedfundingforaleaveduringwhich muchofmyresearchwasdone.MythanksareduetoMichelleBradyforher assistancewiththeresearch,andtoChristopherandSusanAnadalefortheir editorialassistance.IoweadebtgreaterthanIcanexpresstomyhusband, Robert,forthemanyconversationsthathelpedmetoclarifymyproject,for the many hours spent in preparing the manuscript, and for his unfailing encouragement. An earlier version of the section on skepticism from Chapter 1 appeared as“Montaigne’sScepticism,”MontaigneStudies12,nos.1–2(2000):75–90. “The Dialectic of Faith and Reason in the Essays of Montaigne,” Faith and Philosophy18,no.3(July2001):323–36,isbasedonsectionsofChapter5. SomeoftheideasdevelopedinChapter8werefirstpublishedinPhilosophy and Literature 24, no. 1 (April 2000): 138–53, as “Montaigne’s Accidental MoralPhilosophy.” vii Note on the Texts References to the French text of the Essais are to the edition by Pierre Villey and V.-L. Saulnier, 3 vols., 2nd ed. (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France,“Quadrige,”1992).TheEnglishtranslationisthatofDonaldFrame, TheCompleteEssaysofMontaigne(Stanford,Calif.:StanfordUniversityPress, 1943). The citation (VS16; F9), for example, refers to p. 16 of the Villey- Saulnier edition and to p. 9 of the Frame translation. In some instances, I have emended Frame’s translation. I have consulted the translation by M. A. Screech, The Essays of Michel de Montaigne (London: Penguin Press, 1991).ReferencestotheScreechtranslationsarecitedbytheletterSand thepagenumber–(S614),forexample. viii
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