"What do I know?"
Montaigne had the skeptical motto struck on a medal, meeting the fanaticism and cruelty of an age of religious wars with gentle self-examination.
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Montaigne
Father of the essay; early modern skepticism
Those Who Ground an Idea Into a Whole System · Disciples & School-Builders
SkepticismEssaySelf-knowledge
Who they are
Montaigne (1533–1592), the French thinker who invented the essay (Essai), examined every received opinion with the skeptical question "What do I know?", making the self the object of inquiry. His plain, tolerant, anti-dogmatic spirit deeply shaped Descartes, Pascal and the modern essay.
Primary sourcesMontaigne, Essays
Key stories
Relationships
Disciple
Echoes today
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
The essayHe invented the genre; the word "essai" (attempt) is his coinage.