ENGL 100 Lecture Notes - Cannibalism, Michel De Montaigne, Aestheticism
16 Apr 2013
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Montaigne used the word essay (from french word essayez meaning to try) The essay is the performance of thinking on your feet. Montaigne s favourite subject of essays was himself. Montaigne claims that what he knows best is the fact that he does not know anything much self knowledge is connected with the knowledge of others. Of cannibals opens with a reference on the importance of direct observation in making our own judgments by connecting reliability to unsophisticated report and simplicity: How cautious men ought to be of taking things upon trust from vulgar opinion, and that we to judge by eye of reason, and from common report . Montaigne mentions his own source of information - this man is a plain ignorant fellow and therefore the more likely to tell the truth . The cannibals are noble savages , they have their flaws but in many ways are more advanced than the european civilizations.
