ENGL 212Montaigne_Masters_Project_Cannibals_All. “Cannibals All? A Discourse on Michel de Montaigne’s Essay, ‘On the Cannibals’”

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“Cannibals All? A Discourse on Michel de Montaigne’s Essay, ‘On the Cannibals’” Chapter One Introduction: Cannibals all? This essay is an exploration of Michel de Montaigne’s (1533- 1 ... 592) “On the Cannibals.” It will assess Montaigne’s reaction to several views of “the other” in the sixteenth century. The first view is that all non-Europeans were savages, cannibals, less than human and not to be respected or trusted. This was the view that permeated much of Western civilization at the time. Following the era of exploration and conquest of the new world, European royal officials and explorers were forced to reckon with the place of new world cultures in an expanding globe. For some, the new world cultures seemed more primitive than the culture of Europeans. The result was a fear or rejection of what seemed to “civilized” Europeans as a savage society. For many, a negative characterization was an excuse to exploit the resources of the new world to enrich old world nations. Such exploration and colonization was the outgrowth of the European economic system called mercantilism. The second view is that “the others,” the primitive tribal peoples that were “discovered,” were really “noble savages,” whose life was found in an idyllic state of nature, reflecting the original ideal of human community. In the sixteenth century, nature was often contrasted with art, as a symbol of human invention and artifice, a contrived4 and even distortion of humanity. For Montaigne, the appeal to nature was a way to critique the corruption and pretension of European, specifically French civilization. Montaigne’s view is actually a third, a synthesis of the two views mentioned above. We might call Montaigne’s view of human nature a critical realist view. In this perspective, all humans, Europeans and others, have both savage and noble characteristics. Montaigne influenced the development of the noble savage theory, which was later adopted by other writers including Jean Jacques Rousseau. While Montaigne notes the many ways that tribal cultures were superior to the culture of Western Europe at the time of his writing, his idealization is a bit chastened. Montaigne neither sanctions cannibalism, nor the killing of prisoners of war. Yet, he notes that Europeans were also guilty of practicing cruelty and murder, so that the notion that European civilization was superior was a dubious claim. For Montaigne, all humans are subject to the same foibles, savagery and miscalculation. Montaigne was enamored with the emerging scientific view of the world, that knowledge is to be found in observation and through experience, rather than through reason alone. Montaigne’s realism was tinged with a skeptical humanism, and it was this skepticism that provided an interpretive framework. Yet, Montaigne’s actual experience or first hand encounter with tribal peoples was minimal. He was forced to rely upon and accept the opinions of other writers and travelers of his era as a substitute for first hand knowledge. While the first purpose in this paper is to describe Montaigne’s critical realism with regard to human nature, a second is to explore themes in Montaigne’s essay that might help humans better appreciate the diversity and the multicultural reality of the5 human species, in Montaigne’s world and in ours. We can find in Montaigne not only a critique of sixteenth century globalization, but we may also find guidelines that will help us to better appreciate the significant differences between cultures. This essay seeks, therefore, to understand Montaigne’s view of the other, and why he held such a view. It will explore the possibilities of Montaigne’s critical realist perspective as a resource for those of us who are exploring how to navigate a multicultural reality in the early 21st century. Montaigne argued that there was enough barbarism and injustice to be found in all cultures. On the other hand, his perspective was influenced by prevailing uncritical romantic views. Montaigne’s view is therefore not original with him. Hence, this essay will explore the extent that Montaigne’s view of the other reflects prevailing views, and the extent that his view reflects an objective factual analysis, or at least someone’s objective factual analysis. Also, this paper seeks to apply Montaigne’s perspective “on the other” more generally to the difference we see around us. In this respect, Montaigne’s “On the Cannibals” begs the question of universal applicability. Are the people of the new world really cannibals, savages, pagans, infidels, or primitives; or are they noble savages, victims of malign European powers (imperialism)? In Montaigne, can we find a more balanced and thoughtful approach? Can we document that “the other” shares characteristics of nobility and cruelty, and that this confliction of characteristics is to be found in all human cultures? In Montaigne’s, “On the Cannibals,” the “savages” are “like us” in many ways, even as they are also quite different. For Montaigne, the distinction between the barbarism of Brazilian cannibals and the cruelty of European conquerors is really very small. Perhaps, for us in the modern age, it is also less clear6 which culture can claim exclusivity to the possession of either the blessing of “god” or to a particular claim to a universal moral force that respects difference as it really exists in the world. [Show More]

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