Montaigne

What this author is really trying to say in his essay can be summed up in the quote, “Thus we should beware of clinging to vulgar opinions and judge things by reason’s way, not by popular say. The whole essay he talks about how groups of people may hold things in a different light than everyone else might. However, this author’s message can be broken down even further. It is not only how a group of people may find something, it is the individual. As Montaigne states in his quote, we cannot judge by popular say. This means that even in our culture, country, or even family. We all must on our own try and discover what we find to be our own personal views on any matter. Even groups such as our country or family may influence our decision and I believe that this something that each individual must be aware of. In order to find what we truly believe and how we view things in life, there must be no influences and by being aware of such influences it then helps us to become more aware individuals. In this essay the author talks often on the definition of the word barbarism, however, I do not believe that this is what the author is truly trying to get at. I think his message is more than just that. It is how that word comes to be defined, how people define things for themselves and how we as individuals can define our own words.