Essays

Name: Essays
Author: Michel de Montaigne

by Michel de Montaigne

Philosophical meditations on human nature, death, and personal experience

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About the author

Michel de Montaigne

The inventor of the personal essay, Montaigne turned his own thoughts, habits, and contradictions into a new literary form of radical intimacy and intellectual honesty. His Essays range from the philosophical to the trivial with equal curiosity and self-deprecating humor. He coined the term 'essay' from the French essai, meaning attempt.

More by Michel de Montaigne

Travel JournalAccount of Montaigne's travels through Italy, Switzerland, and Germany
On ExperienceEssay exploring how human experience reveals knowledge and truth
On CannibalsEssay challenging European assumptions about indigenous non-European cultures
An Apology for Raymond SebondDefense of medieval theologian Sebond's arguments for religious belief
To Philosophize Is to Learn to DieEssay on death as fundamental to philosophical wisdom and living well