Education from montaigne´s perspective within the renaissance context

Abstract

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne’s (1533-1592) philosophy foregrounds a pedagogy based on intellectual skepticism and moral stoicism. Since the acquisition of definitive or unquestionable knowledge is impossible, there would be the unending search for something that would be somewhat more reliable or probable. Similarly, it would be mandatory to educate the subject within a virtuous conduct to do one´s duty. Current article is an attempt to approach philosophy and education and brings to the fore Montaigne´s main topics within a review of his philosophy and his ideas on education, within the historical context (Renaissance) and his most relevant work (Essays). Results show that Montaigne´s intellectual skepticism and moral stoicism ward off possible mistakes, misconceptions, errors and illusions caused by concepts that do not question to what extent knowledge is reliable and ignore the importance of the formation of human behavior. It is expected that these considerations on Montaigne’s philosophical and educational ideas may trigger discussions on the theoretical foundation of education  .