Doubt against presumption
Examine how the Apology uses animals, the quarrels of philosophers and the weakness of the senses to humble reason.
An original introduction. This guide accompanies the work; it is neither the complete text nor a translation.
Situating the text
Placed in Book II, chapter 12, it was probably written for the most part around 1576 and expanded until 1592. In 1569, at his father’s request, Montaigne had published his translation of Sebond’s Latin Natural Theology. Readers still debate whether the chapter supports faith by humbling reason or quietly undermines the defence it claims to offer. The longest chapter of the Essays begins as a defence of Sebond’s natural theology and becomes a sustained attack on human presumption. Montaigne compares humans with animals, gathers the disagreements of philosophers and doubts the reliability of the senses, concluding that reason alone cannot raise humans above their condition.
Following the arguments
Human presumption : Montaigne attacks the belief that humans are masters of nature, stressing how little we know of what animals perceive or think. Discord of philosophers : The endless disagreement of the schools about the soul, the gods and the highest good shows that reason cannot settle its own questions. Limits of the senses : Without a criterion to check perceptions, no judgment can claim certainty; the sceptic suspends assent and goes on inquiring.
Continuing the reading
Read the opening on Sebond, then the comparison with animals and the account of Pyrrhonism; note where Montaigne speaks in his own name and where he reports the opinions of the ancients. Placed in Book II, chapter 12, it was probably written for the most part around 1576 and expanded until 1592. In 1569, at his father’s request, Montaigne had published his translation of Sebond’s Latin Natural Theology. Readers still debate whether the chapter supports faith by humbling reason or quietly undermines the defence it claims to offer.
Sceptical doubt in the Apology checks presumption without forbidding inquiry or ordinary life.
Your turn to think.
- Does the comparison with animals lower humans or simply place them back within nature?
- If reason cannot settle its own disputes, what remains to guide belief and conduct?
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