MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE
He looks to experience and the honest observation of one’s limits rather than abstract certainty as a path toward better judgment.
1533–1592Skepticism · HumanismFrance
Core ideas
EXPERIENCESELF-OBSERVATIONDOUBTHUMILITYJUDGMENT
Works & sources
Essays
MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE, a first reading
Montaigne explored human judgment by observing his own experiences and shifting thoughts in the Essays.
Skepticism and self-observation: what does it mean?
Montaigne's skepticism is not a demand to believe nothing. It asks us to examine confidence against experience and our limits, and to resist passing hasty judgments on others.