Michel de Montaigne

Abstract

Montaigne approached language as a natural human activity and focused on its use by humans. He was very concerned with the propensity for words and language to misrepresent and mislead. “On the Vanity of Words” is about how words, language, and rhetoric misrepresent reality by making the mundane and insignificant seem grandiose. The dangers of such misrepresentations for reason and governance are alluded to in the essay. This theme also appears in The Apology for Raymond Sebond where this capacity is presented as yet another reason for adopting a broadly skeptical attitude. “Of Prayers” provides a thoughtful, and unique, answer to the problem of misleading language: rather than regiment language so as not to be able to deceive, we should regulate ourselves and our thoughts so as to rise up to our lofty rhetoric. Montaigne also argued against the idea that a capacity for language is what separates humans from non-rational animals and he emphasizes the naturalness of linguistic expression in The Apology for Raymond Sebond.

Texts excerpted from: Frame, D. trans. 1943. The Complete Works of Montaigne. Stanford: Stanford University Press.