Faire lien dans la non-appartenance à soi : Montaigne

Abstract

If we consider social cohesion as pre-existent and necessarily feigned, then there is no need to valorize it socially and politically on the pattern of community fusion, where individuals would be brought to unity. From this assumption, this paper claims on the one hand that Montaigne advocates a community of differences, with sensible use of conflictuality which naturally arises from ambivalent desires, on the other hand that he does not praise servitude as the best social and political organization of the concupiscence. Unlike Pascal, Montaigne does not reduce social cohesion to the sphere of deceptive appearances, where civility hides hatred. Quite the reverse actually as Montaigne considers that through social ties, despite their alienated character, we can promote personal identity and self esteem. Social bonds, grounded on imitation and speech acts, are even the condition of humanization. The paper points to the importance of word in Montaigne’s view concerning social links, which should not be confused with the Holy Word or with two-faced speech.

Keywords

• Montaigne (Michel de)
• social ties
• given word
• feigned/true self
• alienation
• ambivalent human feelings