On the Issue of the Philosophical Heritage of Michel Montaigne (Based on the First Volume of M. Montaigne’s "Essays")

Key words: Renaissance, Herzen, theory of culture, skepticism, ancient philosophy, ancient world, Eurocentrism, ethics The political-legal, meaningful, moral and educational ideas presented in the works of M. Montaigne are perceived as a partial analysis of the Renaissance and a reflection of brilliant thoughts. However, on the other hand, contemporaries and great educators considered Montaigne one of the wise thinkers of the new era, whose legacy had a great influence on the critical thinking of subsequent centuries. It is not without reason that M. Gorky claimed that “Montaigne shakes hands with Voltaire through the centuries.” Montaigne began work on the Essays in 1570. The work was based on the marginal notes Montaigne had made in the books of a number of ancient writers since 1564. The first edition of the Essays was published in two volumes in 1580 in Bordeaux, the second – corrected and supplemented, in 1582. After the writer's death, Marie de Gournay prepared the third edition in 1595. The Essays had a huge influence on European culture. According to the words of one of the researchers, “Shakespeare is full of reminiscences from Montaigne; Pascal and Descartes argued with him, Voltaire defended him; Bacon, Gassendi, Malebranche, Bossuet, Bayle, Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau, La Mettrie, Pushkin, Herzen, Tolstoy wrote about him and referred to him polemically or approvingly.”