Philosophy and Literature

Abstract:

Montaigne’s last words in the Essays—the words that capture his entire project—are “sociable wisdom.” Philosophy has been transformed from the “love of wisdom” to “sociable wisdom” and this transformation is, at the same time, the transformation of the human world. What is “sociable wisdom” and how has it produced this remarkable effect? Sociable wisdom overcomes the classical distinctions between leisure and work, theoretical and practical, strong and weak, masters and slaves. In the same act, the philosopher both transforms philosophy and invents society. The essay is the perfect expression of sociable wisdom.