In Of Cannibals Montaigne is concerned with finding the definition of barbarism. However, throughout his essay, Montaigne realizes there is no universal definition of barbarism, but it depends upon the culture. Montaigne states, “except that each man calls barbarism whatever is not his own practice; for indeed it seems we have no other test of truth and reason than the example and pattern of the opinions and customs of the country we live in.” Montaigne believes that each culture and civilization is biased and believes their own religion, government, and manners are considered civilized and not barbaric. He gives examples that in one society, their actions seem completely wild, but to them it is completely normal, such as fighting naked and cannibalism.
Montaigne tries to rationalize what is barbaric and gives the opinion that whatever civilization has changed the most from the natural world is in fact the most barbaric, “Whereas really it is those that we have changed artificially and led astray from the common order that we should rather call wild.” This is the main reason why different cultures and civilizations find each other barbaric. Each culture evolved in a different way from one another, and developed different customs. This then shows that not one civilization or culture can be considered civilized. Throughout the essay, Montaigne is saying that because of every person’s bias of their culture barbarism cannot be defined. In fact, it would be biased to define one culture or civilization as barbaric, and something that can never be determined.