JOHN VESPASIAN is the author of sixteen books, including “When everything fails, try this” (2009), “Rationality is the way to happiness” (2009), “The philosophy of builders” (2010), “The 10 principles of rational living” (2012), “Rational living, rational working” (2013), “Consistency: The key to permanent stress relief” (2014), “On becoming unbreakable” (2015), “Thriving in difficult times” (2016), “Causality: Aristotle’s life and ideas” (2024), “Foresight: Schopenhauer’s life and ideas” (2024), and "Constancy: Michel de Montaigne's life and ideas" (2025).
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JOHN VESPASIAN is the author of sixteen books, including “When everything fails, try this” (2009), “Rationality is the way to happiness” (2009), “The philosophy of builders” (2010), “The 10 principles of rational living” (2012), “Rational living, rational working” (2013), “Consistency: The key to permanent stress relief” (2014), “On becoming unbreakable” (2015), “Thriving in difficult times” (2016), “Causality: Aristotle’s life and ideas” (2024), “Foresight: Schopenhauer’s life and ideas” (2024), and "Constancy: Michel de Montaigne's life and ideas" (2025).
Social organisation and Michel de Montaigne’s scepticism
John Vespasian
6 minutes
1 week ago
Social organisation and Michel de Montaigne’s scepticism
When historians refer to scepticism in the works by Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), they point to his general reluctance to accept absolute truths. Taken to extremes, scepticism weakens the confidence in one’s perceptions and ability to reason. Since Montaigne wrote essays during a twenty-year period, his own definition of scepticism shifted from general doubts, to self-doubt, to doubts about society’s institutions. The latter is particularly interesting for modern readers because, as Montaigne put it, “it is foolish to consider our own preferences as the only valid model.” When looking at aspects of social organisation, Montaigne favoured open debates, and warned against the blanket condemnation of unusual ideas. Indeed, too many people will automatically steer away from unfamiliar ideas or products, calling them abhorrent, worthless or dangerous, only to realise later that they have been fooled by their own prejudices. Montaigne devoted his essay “Of a defect in our policies” specifically to applying his scepticism to social organisation. It questions the deficiencies and inconsistencies in various social institutions, especially in the field of law. Although Montaigne was a lawyer himself and had long practised law in southern France, he was far from happy with the results. Since he had witnessed how the strict application of the law sometimes leads to injustice, he argues that common sense should prevail over a literal interpretation of legal texts. I like in particular Montaigne’s rejection of the delusion that more laws will lead to better justice. In practice, the contrary will happen. Increased legal complexity tends to generate more costs for everybody involved, but fails to improve the overall results. Montaigne’s scepticism applies to the quantity and qualities of the laws, and of the people who apply them. He does not see an easy solution, but he realises that narrow-mindedness and over-complication will not solve the problem. Instead, he calls for simplicity and common sense. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/social-organisation-and-michel-de-montaignes-scepticism/
John Vespasian
JOHN VESPASIAN is the author of sixteen books, including “When everything fails, try this” (2009), “Rationality is the way to happiness” (2009), “The philosophy of builders” (2010), “The 10 principles of rational living” (2012), “Rational living, rational working” (2013), “Consistency: The key to permanent stress relief” (2014), “On becoming unbreakable” (2015), “Thriving in difficult times” (2016), “Causality: Aristotle’s life and ideas” (2024), “Foresight: Schopenhauer’s life and ideas” (2024), and "Constancy: Michel de Montaigne's life and ideas" (2025).
