Michel de Montaigne deserves to be the center of discussion for an introductory class in this course next year. Montaigne’s life and works predate those of all of the other philosophers studied in this course (except al-Ghazali) and address such a wide variety of topics that they can provide context and bases for comparison for many of the discussions of the writers that came after him. The Essais, Montaigne’s primary work, is primarily a sceptic exercise in which the author explores inquiries into human nature while maintaining a fundamental distrust of human reason and experience, which fits right into the main theme of this course and leads very nicely into the intense scepticism of Descartes’ Meditations. God does play a role in his philosophy but does not dominate it, which can help ease students into the idea of God’s utility as a tool in philosophy, especially as God is used in Descartes’ Meditations or Spinoza’s Ethics. Montaigne makes liberal use of quotations from ancient Greek and Latin philosophers which can help to relate students’ previous study of ancient philosophy, if they have that experience, to the Early Modern period. Montaigne also wants philosophy to be as accessible as possible and makes a point to avoid using complicated terminology in his writing, allowing his arguments to be understood clearly even by someone without significant experience studying philosophy. The passages from Of the Institution and Education of Children in which Montaigne’ directly presents his love for philosophy and outrage at the public’s general ignorance of it could be used as a primer reading to get students to think about why they enjoy studying philosophy, how they see philosophy represented in the world, why they think philosophy should be more widely studied, etc. And of course, the importance of essays will not be lost on any student in the American education system, so students deserve to meet the man who established the essay as a form of writing by way of reading the first works ever described as essays. Further details of Montaigne’s philosophy and the scope of the Essais certainly enable more in-depth discussion of his works as something other than an introduction, but within the context of this course they seem best suited in an introductory role.
Montaigne, in order to appear on the syllabus next year, would have to replace another philosopher that is already on the syllabus. That philosopher will be Sor Juana de la Cruz. Though Sor Juana’s Respuesta is a beautifully written work, it did not contribute significantly to the discussions of metaphysics or human nature that have been the focus of this course. The exploration into human nature in this work was almost entirely limited to God’s direct influence on human nature rather than the dynamics of human nature in of itself, and the isolated aspect of human nature quickly becomes a much more important topic in this course after Cavendish and Spinoza begin to use God largely as a metaphysical world-establishing tool rather than a personally-influencing one. This is continued with Leibniz and on through the rest of the semester. The Respuesta did constitute another example of the utility of God in building philosophy, but it incorporates aspects of a religious God rather than staying a purely philosophical God, which diminishes its relevance to other works using only a philosophical God including Spinoza’s Ethics and Leibniz’s Discourse. Additionally, Sor Juana has not been referenced since the week in which the Respuesta was read, which supports the conclusion that, though a wonderful philosophical work in its own right that is quite enjoyable to read, it does not warrant a major spot on the syllabus and should be replaced by Montaigne and his Essais (accompanied by a small rearrangement of the course schedule).
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