OF THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN

By: Michel Montaigne

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
(generally known as Michel de Montaigne), born on February 28,
1533 in the Aquitaine region of France, on the family estate Chteau
de Montaigne ( close to Bordeaux), died in France on September 13,
1592.
Chteau de Montaigne

French essayist

The father of Modern Skepticism

He was the first person to use the word essay to describe his
writings. Today, it can be said that Montaigne was the first blogger.

Michel was raised in the company of a tutor who spoke only Latin to
him, so that Latin, rather than French, was his first language.

Montaigne attended the College of Guyenne in Bordeaux. He is then

presumed to have studied law at University of Toulouse before
beginning his career at the Court of Prigueux.

Following in the public-service tradition begun by his grandfather, he

entered into the magistrature, becoming a member of the Board of
Excise, the new tax court of Prigueux.

It was there, around 1558, that he met tienne de la Botie, who

became his greatest friend, and whose
premature death in 1563 was the defining
moment in Montaigne's personal life.

In 1565, Montaigne married Franoise de la

Chassaigne, the daughter of one of his
colleagues at the Parliament of Bordeaux. He
fathered six daughters, five of whom died in
infancy.

In 1570, Montaigne sold his parliamentary office, and officially retired

from public service, out of (he said) a desire to devote the remainder of
his days to study, writing, and contemplation.

He was at the same time working on the Essais, whose first edition, in
two books, was published in 1580.

In the same year, he embarked on a leisurely trip through central

Europe to Italy, visiting various spas in search of relief from the kidney
stones that had begun to plague him two years earlier.

While still in Italy, Montaigne was informed that he had been elected
mayor of Bordeaux.

In 1588 he went to Paris on a diplomatic mission. On this trip he met

an enthusiastic reader, Marie de Gournay, who would become his
literary executor.

Different illnesses beset him during this period, and he died after an
attack of quinsy, an inflammation of the tonsils.

Both before and after his death, Montaigne's essays were widely read.

His beliefssuch as his skepticism and cultural relativismsparked

both discussion and criticism. Many writers and philosophers were
influenced by Montaigne, including Voltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau and
Gustave Flaubert.

Montaigne called his original work essais, which means "attempts".

Montaignes huge volume of essays, Essais is still considered to be

the finest collection of essays which influenced many other famous
writers such as Ren Descartes, Isaac Asimov and William
Shakespeare.

Montaigne called his original

work essais, which means "attempts".

Montaignes huge volume of essays,

Essais is still considered to be the finest
collection of essays which influenced many
other famous writers such as Ren
Descartes, Isaac Asimov and William
Shakespeare

Theologia Naturalis (Natural Theology)

Montaignes first book,

a French translation of the 15th-century by the Spanish monk

Raymond Sebond.

He finished the translation in time to present it to his father before the

latter's death in 1568
was published in 1569

On Friendship
inspired by Montaigne's relationship with the late tienne de la Botie,
whom he had befriended at the Bordeaux parliament,

which he called perfect and indivisible, vastly superior to all other

human alliances

He spent the years from 1571 to 1580 composing the first two books of
the Essays, which comprise respectively 57 and 37 chapters of greatly
varying lengths; they were published in Bordeaux in 1580.
Montaigne's Skepticism

Skepticism - (Philosophy) the theory that certain knowledge is

impossible.

Montaigne has been pointed out as one of the earliest modern

examples of philosophical skepticism.

Montaignes much-discussed skepticism results from that initial

negativity, as he questions the possibility of all knowing and sees the
human being as a creature of weakness and failure, of inconstancy and
uncertainty, of incapacity and fragmentation.

Around 1576, when Montaigne had his own personal medal coined, he
had it engraved with his age, with Epecho , I abstain in Greek, and
another Sceptic motto in French: Que sais-je?: what do I know ? At
this period in his life, Montaigne is thought to have undergone a
skeptical crisis, as Pierre Villey famously commented.

Montaigne and Relativism

Neither the Hellenistic Sage, nor the Christian Saint, nor the
Renaissance Scholar, are unquestioned models in the Essays. Instead,
Montaigne is considering real men, who are the product of customs.
Here they live on human flesh; there it is an act of piety to kill one's
father at a certain age ().

OF THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN

In this essay, Montaigne advises a female friend, who is expecting to

give birth to a child very soon, on the proper education of children.

the greatest and most important of the sciences is the education of

children.

School was primarily for boys, and in his essay Of the Education of
Children, Montaigne does not mention the education of girls. However,
Montaignes advice for educating boys can be applied just as well to
the education of girls.

Montaigne stresses some rather controversial subjects such as the

essential need to teach children without anger or force, the advantages
of letting children taste what appeals to them, the benefits of traveling
and studying other cultures, and above all the importance of educating
a childs character.

One of the first things that Montaigne emphasizes is kindness and

gentleness towards the student. Montaigne sympathized with children
who have had one of the greatest pleasures of life learning
embittered and frustrated by the harshness of their teachers.

The instructor must allow his pupil to speak too. The instructor must
not merely lecture the pupil; he should engage the pupil in discussion
and allow the pupil to form opinions.

A parrot can perform the same skill of memorization and recitation. A

student should digest the material, and then espouse the lessons in
his own words according to the students own personal experiences
and intuition.

The process of considering the writings and speeches of great men,

and then forming an opinion based upon ones own capacities and
experiences enables a student to grasp the lesson or argument set
forth and apply it to different types of situations that he may encounter
throughout life. This is something that memory and recitation cannot
achieve.

A pupil should not focus on remembering narrative aspects of a great

mans life, such as the date of Carthages ruin; a pupil should rather

focus on the behavior of Hannibal and Scipio, and then judge those
behaviors.

Montaigne agrees with Plato that boys should be assigned duties based
upon their faculties and capacities rather than upon their birthright.

A parrot can perform the same skill of memorization and recitation. A

student should digest the material, and then espouse the lessons in
his own words according to the students own personal experiences
and intuition.

Montaigne argues that instruction should not be severe, but rather

delightful for students so that they will be encouraged to learn rather
than learn from fear of punishment from the instructor. Those students
who develop a fondness for learning because they find the pursuit
pleasurable will continue to improve their mind after schooling.

The most manifest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness.