Michel de Montaigne’s Essais constitute an enormous collection of philosophical musings from one of the most erudite thinkers of the French Renaissance. The Essais were written over a period of many years and discuss an immense variety of topics. Contemporary scholars consider Montaigne’s opinions on education to be some of the most practical and important ideas sprinkled throughout the book’s many chapters. Chapter XXV of the first book of the Essais, entitled Of the Institution and Education of Children, in which Montaigne is writing a letter to Madame Diane de Foix, Comtesse de Gurson to express his opinions about how she should educate her child, is a central point in his argument for a new pedagogy far removed from the pedantic* education system common in France at the time.
Of the Institution and Education of Children is perhaps the first written endorsement by a prominent thinker of a general education for children that would precede a specialized one. Of course, when Montaigne wrote the chapter he was writing specifically about the education of the son of a noble family, but his ideas are so expansive that they extend past the “castle education” and can be readily applied to all children of any status at any time in history. As presented in Gabriel Compayré’s book Montaigne and the Education of the Judgement, Montaigne’s pedagogy is “the school of common sense, the school which subordinates instruction to education, memory to judgment, science to conscience, and all studies to ethical teaching (Compayré xii).” Montaigne very much wants education to center on studies at the human level that are useful in everyday life rather than specialized scientific topics whose instruction is based largely on custom and tradition rather than utility. This is exemplified in his statements, “I am clearly of opinion, that [children] ought to be elemented in the best and most advantageous studies… methinks the first doctrine with which one should season his understanding, ought to be that which regulates his manners and his sense; that teaches him to know himself, and how both well to dig and well to live (Montaigne).” He goes on to lament the time wasted subjecting students to the study of theoretical ideas of nonapplicable sciences, citing astronomy as a specific example of a widely studied science with little to no practical application. The education system in Montaigne’s time was based heavily on that of the Middle Ages which focused on mechanical, rote memorization with a basis in theology that extended to the study of the natural sciences and mathematics. He believes that education should be guided by human nature and not by custom or the will of an old scientist designing a curriculum.
The faculty of judgement is central to Montaigne’s pedagogy. He would prefer a tutor to have “rather a well-made than a well-filled head… to prefer manners and judgement to mere learning (Montaigne).” The ability of a child to judge: to think for oneself and form one’s own opinions; to seek the truth as guided by one’s own will; to think clearly and rightly; to have the capacity and will to act well. Human judgement elucidates the difference between truth and error, between good and evil, and is closely related to morality, guiding the way that one lives their life. All education, especially early in childhood, should be in the context of ethics in order to ensure that learning makes the student wiser and better as an individual. One of the most egregious failures of pedantic pedagogy was the refusal to include philosophical study which resulted in a lack of moral education.
The first and most important step in Montaigne’s educational plan is the introduction of philosophy to children. He summarizes his despair at the absence of philosophical education in the pedantic pedagogy in his exclamation, “‘Tis a thousand pities that matters should be at such a pass in this age of ours, that philosophy, even with men of understanding, should be, looked upon as a vain and fantastic name, a thing of no use, no value, either in opinion or effect (Montaigne).” Montaigne finds that philosophy is so misrepresented by the general population “as to be made of it a hobgoblin to affright people.” The common man is taught to be afeared of philosophy, that it is a disparaging and depressive field of thought that is so burdened with complicated terminology as to be all but unapproachable. Montaigne, of course, finds philosophy to be a purely uplifting activity that makes the philosopher happier, healthier, relieved of fear and anxiety, and more competent in navigating life itself. Montaigne’s philosophy is also largely free of complicated terms, and he readily includes quotations from the ancients that he references, making his writings more easily approached than those of other philosophers of his time. Philosophy, which is to say ethics, should be the first thing taught to a child because it teaches them how to live, giving them morals and common sense that then serve as the foundation for the acquisition of further knowledge. Basing education on philosophy, then, would allow students to enjoy their education, teach them how to ask questions, to think for themselves, to make judgements, to understand the world around them, and to apply the knowledge that they gain from their education in their daily life such that they can become better and wiser individuals.
Many of Montaigne’s major ideas constituted significant departures from those of his contemporaries and were remarkably progressive, even modern, in their approach. One of his main points of disconnect with the pedantic pedagogy is the role of memorization. Montaigne considers one’s power of reflection to be more important than the extent of one’s knowledge, asserting that “A mere bookish learning is a poor, paltry learning; it may serve for ornament, but there is yet no foundation for any superstructure to be built upon it, according to the opinion of Plato, who says, that constancy, faith, and sincerity, are the true philosophy, and the other sciences, that are directed to other ends; mere adulterate paint.” Learning from books in the absence of discussion allows only for rote memorization, which does not require, or even preclude in most cases, understanding of the information memorized. This practice discourages students from forming their own opinions and making judgements about the information they are learning, does not allow for digestion or comprehension of the information, and imposes upon students the opinions of their instructors. Memorization also encourages compartmentalization and isolation of information while Montaigne believes the practice and constant reinforcement of topics are essential to developing a true understanding of them, meaning there must be inclusion of activities outside of formal lessons that bring learned information to the forefront of the mind, prompting students to consider it and form judgements about it. For young children, he envisions group education as consisting of formal philosophical lessons interspersed and indeed combined with dancing, playing, and other physical activities to ensure the improvement of the entire individual at once, not only the mind or only the body. In fact, Montaigne believes that physical exercise is a key part of the development of the mind even past early childhood. Having a strong body that is familiar with labor and pain reinforces the mind as well as the body, making them both more resilient, and developing the connection between them that keeps the student living in the present moment and experiencing the world. It should be noted, however, that he is entirely opposed to the corporal punishments common in Medieval and Middle Age college educations that served only to revile students of the institution of education. Early in the chapter Montaigne criticizes the standardization of group schooling as well, concluding that the endeavor to “instruct several boys of differing and unequal capacities, [is] infinitely mistaken; and ‘tis no wonder, if in a whole multitude of scholars, there are not found above two or three who bring away any good account of their time and discipline.” He acknowledges that it is unrealistic to expect every student to be at the same level and to learn the same way, and yet this is exactly the pedantic expectation. Schooling needs to be personalized such that individual students can learn at their own pace to ensure that they are able to learn at all. This kind of understanding of the individual not only makes education more effective but also plays directly into the idea of building a more ethical world that respects individual differences. Along with this idea of a better world, Montaigne discussed at length the importance of interacting with people from other nations and cultures. The ability of a student to learn by listening to others is considered essential, and experiencing the different customs, laws, and attitudes of other peoples will allow them a greater perspective to understand those of their own culture and even question traditions that have lost their utility (as Montaigne believes the pedantic pedagogy has). And though they may not have been respected in his own time, some of these pedagogical concepts are recognized today as essential while others are still being explored, emphasizing the extent of Montaigne’s intellect and the significance of his philosophy.
Overall, Montaigne’s pedagogy favors little depth but a wide breadth of knowledge. Philosophy and ethics are at its core and science, mathematics, and rhetoric are present, but they do not find a large enough place within the educational scheme to make their representation especially meaningful. Schooling would be pleasant and allow for full expression of a student’s intellectual capabilities. A student of Montaigne’s education would be honest and direct in his speech and writing and would have a clear and independently thinking mind with a solid judgement and a strong sense of morals.
*Glossary:
Pedantic: the standard, traditional educational style of Montaigne’s contemporary tutors and colleges that focused on specialized education in science, rhetoric, and history involving significant memorization and reading of books while largely ignoring philosophy and studies of human nature.
References:
1. Michel de Montaigne. (2006). Of the Education of Children. In W. C. Hazlitt (Ed.) & C. Cotton (Trans.), The Essays of Montaigne, Complete (Vol. 3). Project Gutenberg. Retrieved April 9, 2021, from https://gutenberg.org/files/3600/3600-h/3600-h.htm
2. Compayré, Gabriel, and J. E. Mansion. Montaigne and the Education of the Judgment. T.Y. Crowell & Co., 1908.
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