In his final essay, Michel de Montaigne avows, “I would rather be an authority on myself than on Cicero.” St. Augustine’s Confessions demonstrates a similar desire to know or have “authority” (mastery/sovereignty/control) over the self. According to both St. Augustine’s Confessions and Montaigne’s Essays, what specific forces or obstacles stand in the way of fulfilling this desire to know the self? And how do the two writers differ in their attempts to overcome these obstacles to self-knowledge or self-mastery? Be sure to answer all parts of the question. Papers that do not respond to the essay question will automatically receive a failing grade. This essay must contain a thesis statement, each paragraph must contain a quote from either text, to prove your point, with clearly explanations. NO PLAGARISM!!!
Michel de Montaigne’s and St. Augustine’s Confessions
The ability to exercise control over oneself is termed as self-control as well as self-mastery. Self-control is an art that is required in almost all schools of life. It is an art that is required in order to consider an individual well-composed. This essay analyses Michel de Montaigne’s vows concerning control and authority. The article will outline the plausible challenges against his philosophies as far as Cicero’s stringent rules and regulations. Additionally, the article also contains a brief overview of St. Augustine’s confessions concerning the aspect of religion and God. The challenges against St. Augustine’s article and during his moments of confessions will also be covered in the essay. Lastly, the essay will also cover the various mechanisms and responses that the two individuals used in an attempt to overcome the challenges that seemed to pop up during the stating of their philosophies.
Michel de Montaigne’s vow
Michel de Montaigne was born in 1853 of a rich noble family. His late father had been a soldier in the Army of King Francis who not only brought success back home but also a different way of life. Due to the urge and desire to introduce and instil the idea of a refined western culture, Montaigne began literary writings. As his career began picking up, he made up his mind to be a dedicated writer who wrote a couple of books on essays. He was an influential idealist and philosopher who organized his lines if ideas and thoughts in a perfect manner. He was a philosopher who had a strong belief in the idea of free judgement and self-mastery
One of Montaigne’s personal quotes that caught my attention was, ”… His was a courage formed not by reason but by one of these circumstances…”In this context, Montaigne implies that he cannot rely entirely on the reasons that everyone relies on or those that the society has borne since time immemorial. He claims that he is willing to change in order to fit the current state of affairs. He further puts it that it is only fools who cannot change. The fact that various reasons have existed in the society does not entirely rule out the possibilities of faults in those reasons. In pertinent to the above piece of information, the reader gets to find out that Montaigne was a firm believer of self-control. He always seemed to argue and rubbish Cicero’s rules and regulations that involved the patronising of one individual to the other. He was clear in his philosophy, which criticised the theoretical or speculative way in which the society used to rule out everything. He insisted that there was more pleasure in exercising the abilities of self-mastery and self-control over all the schools of life. The fact that an individual had the ability to have self-control is a clear indication of maturity and that the individual will require little or strictly no supervision at all especially while handling aspects of delegation of duties in a given organization
Challenges that Michel de Montaigne faced
To begin with, Michel de Montaigne’s theory was based on a massive collection of ideas that included ideas from his fellow philosopher. This was the major challenge that faced Montaigne. Many individuals in the society thought that his theory concerning philosophy was perfect but lacked originality. Considering the fact that his philosophy was originally raw and developed right with the progress of his ideas but later lacked points and illustrations to second it, Montaigne’s work was deemed too shallow. His criticism towards science was regarded with utmost analysis and received just as much response as he had thought. The society was a firm believer in any type of mentality that they found in existence (Arena 57). According to Montaigne, no particular individual in the society would ever stop even for a moment to ponder about the type of mentality that they followed blindly in the society. Personally, he had a strong belief that nothing like science ever existed in the society but only the mentality of science did. In this theory, he faced the challenge of lack of faith in his research concerning the fact on file that almost all individuals in the society were firm believers of science. In an attempt to handle all these challenges, he filed a court petition that would be used to determine the legitimacy of his theories. When he filed the same, the officials of the court were under the influence of influential people of the society and within no time the case was closed down following cited reasons of lack of adequate secondary reports to second Montaigne’s issues but he did not give up at that.
St. Augustine’s confessions
St. Augustine was a philosopher who combined the ideas of both religion and life. In his confessions, he is very clear in outlining all his faults just as any normal man. He claims the fact that he commits sins with or without his utmost knowledge does not entirely mean that he cannot be accepted in the kingdom of the Lord God. In his confessions, he begins by putting up his childhood ideas about how he may have unknowingly sinned as baby. He also outlines and states the way of life of God and how the relationship between the life and times of The Lord God are related with the life of man.
In a bid to quote one of his word, the following word caught my attention. “…We float between different state of mind, we wish nothing freely, nothing absolutely, nothing constantly…”In the above quote, St. Augustine tries to imply the fact that most of the people in the society have the opportunity to exercise their will power in order to satisfy their personal but instead bend down to the requirements of the society. All individuals in the society. St Augustine urges everyone in the society to channel their ability to exercise will power, self-control and self-mastery towards the right directions in order to harness the best of all desired results.
St. Augustine’s challenges
The first and major challenge that St. Augustine faced during his confessions was the lack of faith in his analysis of the life of God. Firm believers in the gospel of the Lord claimed that St. Augustine’s theory may as well be considered a blasphemous act in all relation to the life and times of the most supreme, The Lord God. According to the society, some of the aspects in the society that do not need to be questioned include religion and the true nature of the most high. The fact that St. Augustine had outlined and later clearly elaborated the life and times of God in such a normal manner was some kind of disrespect according to certain religious fanatics. Second to note among the challenges that faced St. Augustine’s was the lack of support from the society. Back then in time, when an individual made such type of discoveries and theories required a lot of support or rather moral support in the society, the type of support that St. Augustine never got a chance of receiving (William 59). This was a major challenge considering the fact that he needed the back up more than anything else
Conclusion
When an individual makes an important and influential discovery in the society, two types of responses are bound to up come. The discovery or rather the statement that was recently discovered could either lead to total approval in the society or complete rejection of the whole aspect. The essay above is a detailed elaboration concerning how the philosophies of St. Augustine and Michel de Montaigne aroused different types of reactions in the society.
Works Cited
Cook, William R., and Ronald B. Herzman. St. Augustine’s Confessions. Springfield, VA: Teaching, 2004. Print.
Lesly Arean. Michel de Montaigne’s vows. Springfield, VA: Teaching, 2004. Print.
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